Bunny Blog Readers: The Bunny Blog has been
offline for over a year so I can concentrate on other things.
I will be back before the end of 2010 blogging about bunnies.

February
26, 2009 - 10:30 p.m. - Bunny Puts Woman Behind Bars -
A woman in the UK is back behind bars after she said her child’s pet
bunny chewed through an electrical wire powering her monitoring
equipment. She had been in prison for three months for money
laundering. She was banned from leaving her family home in the
evenings. But Cuddles (above) chewed through the receiver unit
cable in the house. She and her husband called the engineer who
could see the cable had been chewed. However, police took her back
to prison since they believed the unit was tampered with instead.
Someone needs to test the cords for rabbit DNA because Cuddles looks
really guilty.

On
the Wild Side: In Maine the York Land Trust is celebrating 2009
as the Year of the New England cottontail, Maine's only native
rabbit. (Shown on left.) They are kicking off the year long series
with a three hour trek in the Hilton-Winn Conservation Area
Saturday, February 28th. It is prime New England Cottontail
habitat. The New England cottontail was once the only cottontail
species in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut
and Rhode Island. That changed in the 1920s, when state wildlife
management agencies and private hunting clubs introduced Eastern
cottontails into the Northeast.

The
Eastern cottontail (pictured on right) quickly expanded into all
Northeastern states except for Maine. It's bigger than its native
cousin, and has sharper eyes and hearing, making it less vulnerable
to predators. The cottontails look so similar that only recently was
the New England native deemed a unique species. The Eastern
cottontail often has a small white spot on the forehead, a marking
not found on New England cottontails. The latter has a thin black
line of fur along its outer edge and a black spot between the ears.
Eastern cottontails are found in open fields, while New England
cottontails need scrubby brush in which to hide. Maine's only other
rabbit species is the snowshoe hare. E-mail:info@yorklandtrust.org.

Bunny
Beds?ThePet Extraordinarium in the UK is selling
this pink playhouse. They
say it gives your "little lovelies a cozy and comfortable hide-away
den." It is fully machine washable. And honestly, for my
rabbits it would need to be if it lasts long enough to make it into
the wash. Pansy or Basil would rip it to pieces.
Adorable idea, but rabbits don't see the color pink. They
could see something in green or blue . . . which brings me to:

A
Better Green Idea - A couple of weeks ago I bought an all
timothy hay playhouse for Pansy. There are NO wire frames, no string
fiber frames - just the tasty hay. And, yes they will eat it.
I cut a hole in the other side because Pansy won't go in anything
without a back door. Now she sits in it, eats it, digs at it,
stands on it, and generally has a great time. That's more like
it! Pansy isn't into pink. Get one from
www.leithpetwerks.com -
they know a good product when they see one! It's a toy, dinner and
bed all rolled into one nutritious package.

February
24, 2009 - 9:00 p.m. -
“Hare” Raising Chase –
look at that big beautiful white bunny and then imagine him hopping
down a busy road in Canterbury, UK on a Sunday morning. Apparently,
it took several attempts before two officers and several passers-by
captured the big bun. They nicknamed the rabbit “Tiny.” A
spokeswoman for Kent Police said that Officer Jackson "hopped to it
when his colleague confirmed it was not a figment of his
imagination.” Tiny was take to an animal hospital close by to wait
for the RSPCA to collect him.

Hitching
Hare - In Bakersfield, California a rabbit darted across an auto
repair shop floor and the owner of the car thought it was a shop
pet. Turns out a young cottontail rabbit must have jumped on board
when the driver pulled his car over on the way to have it repaired.
The mechanic caught the bunny and this is their first rabbit.
They've found cats, squirrels and even rats in cars. The mechanic
took the bunny home (I hope to release in a nice field) and named
him “Hitch.”

On
the Wild Side: A small
lagomorph known as a pika maybe the first mammal to be protected due
to global warming and habitat loss. A Center for Biological
Diversity sued to protect the little rabbit relative under the
Endangered Species Act. The US Fish and Wildlife Agency said it
would make a decision by May on whether protection is warranted.
Most domestic rabbits can become overheated over 85 degrees and
pikas are intolerant of temperatures over 78 degrees Fahrenheit.
The populations of pikas move up in elevation until they have
nowhere left to go according to a biologist. More than a third
of the tiny “boulder bunnies” populations have disappeared in the
past century.

February
22, 2009 11:00 p.m. - Binky Bunnies – Deborah Morfette with
the Boston Pet Examiner has written several articles in her rabbit
series and the last one was all about the "binky." She interviewed
Mary Lempert who writes The Rabbit Advocate
blog and has her own companion rabbit, Graysie (lop mix) including
fosters. She is a rabbit behavior consultant to the Boston MSPCA.
Mary knows a thing or two about rabbit binkies. She has an entry on
her blog called What is a binky?
There is a video demonstration. By the way the photo of the double
bunny binky above is a favorite artist of mine in Seattle, Nakisha
VanderHoeven. See more of her rabbit art at:The Art of Nikisha

Rabbit
Explosion -
Nanaimo, British Columbia is experiencing a feral rabbit population
explosion and people are being warned not to feed or pet the
bunnies. In other parts of Canada such as Kelowna (mentioned on this
blog before) they have similar issues. Nanaimo is located on
Vancouver Island and it has a mild climate which certainly helps the
rabbits survive long enough to reproduce and then some. Of course,
the real problem is the pet owners who have abandoned their rabbits
to fend for themselves on the island. So far officials don’t see the
rabbits as causing too many problems except for the occasional call
from a homeowner wanting to rid themselves of the “pests.” The
photo above shows some of the rabbits eating food left for them by
the side of a road. One official did seem to understand the issue
when he said, "Look at the American Bullfrog that has taken over
Vancouver Island. It would have been much easier to deal with them
when there were only two."

Legal
Lagomorph Fan
- An Assistant Attorney General, Marc Litt, who is investigating the
Madoff fraud case also happens to be a rabbit lover. He lives in
lives in suburban Westchester County with his wife and two
teenagers. According to Time, he “is also close with his pet
rabbit, Whiskers, whom Litt has trained to hop into a cage at the
snap of Litt's fingers." “Whiskers is an incredibly obedient
rabbit,” according to friends. Although, I normally don't get
political on Hopperhome, I hope Mr. Litt thumps Madoff.

Purina Refills ‘Rabbit
Bites’ BowlRabbit Bites
viewers will be happy to know that pet food maker Purina has renewed
its sponsorship. The partnership will last at least through the
year. It’s nice to see someone making web video out of their house
and featuring two cute bunnies, Buns and
Chou-Chou. If you aren't familiar
with Rabbit Bites, the topics highlight popular culture with a
satirical look through the eyes of the rabbits. It’s a little
surreal to see the buns grinding their mouths like they are speaking. I want to know what the secret is to the chewing "talking"
motion. Where’s the hay? (Chou Chou is the lop shown above and
Buns is the sweet-faced sidekick show on the right.)

Bunny
Dumping Makes Me Hopping Mad - In Connecticut they have
experienced several incidents of rabbit abandonment. According to
the Stratford TV Channel WTNH many were in “need of serious medical
help." So far they don’t know who has been abandoning the rabbits
(21 of them).
According to a caretaker with
Hop Along Hollow,
“They were found in the snow, in little milk crates with wire tops
on them."Hop Along Hollowand other rabbit rescues all over the country
are coping with "rabbit dumping.” It is becoming an
increasingly bigger concern for rescuers since rabbit owners are
abandoning these increasingly popular pets in a bad economy. Go to
their website link above to learn more about the bunnies, see TV
segments on the issue and donate to help with medication costs.
(Brandee Lacava of Hop A long Hollow shown above with one of the
rescued dwarf rabbits.)

Hopperhome's
house is going through remodeling. Bunny Blog will be back on
February 16th - Email will be down for a couple of days, too,
from 2/6 to 2/10... until then have a Hoppy Valentine's Day.
(PS: Get the pic at left on a t-shirt from The Daily Tee)

January
19, 2009 - 10:-00 p.m. - The New Year didn't start out so
hoppy for Hopperhome. Forgive me folks, but I lost my little
friend of 9 years a couple of weeks ago. Coming on the heels of
loosing Mr. Hops just a few months ago, it was very difficult to
lose Mr. Bumble B. Bunny so soon after.

Many
years ago when I adopted this year old lop, he was a frantic and
panicked bunny who made a buzzing sound with his teeth. In time he
became a very macho mini-lop. Bumble never met a vacuum cleaner or a
cat that could scare him. In fact, he would hop over to the loud
appliance to be vacuumed himself when he was shedding. He had a
bunny wife of 7 years (Rosemary) and the rest of his life except for
the last few months was spent happily with Mr. Hops.

Bumble knew about 11 words and an infinite
number of my inflections of speech. Most of the words had to do with
food and the rest were his name or nicknames. Bumble knew the word
"dinner" and would become very lively when he heard me chopping up
his salad in the kitchen every evening. He also knew how to
get attention by nudging my foot. Bumble loved to be petted -
not just for a minute or two, but through the time it took to watch
a movie. I miss him very much.

December 26, 2008 - Noon - Hopperhome is on
vacation. No problems with the
"blizzard" with 2 1/2 feet of snow in less than 3 days! It was
a very Hoppy White Christmas! I have been feeding cottontails every
evening at my back door. My domesticated rabbits sit at the
sliding glass doors and watch them. Back blogging after the
New Year. Thanks for visiting the Bunny Blog in 2008! -
The View on Christmas Day:

December
20, 2008 - 6:00 pm - Blizzard and that's not the name of a
white bunny. A actual blizzard is supposed to hit my area of
the country tonight so I may not be online for a couple of days if
the power goes out. (The news keeps reporting power may go out.) I'm
prepared with a warm fireplace, extra veggies for the bunnies, and
two cats who are feline heaters.

Too Much Dutch
-
The
Daily Herald of Wheaton, Illinois (suburban Chicago) reported that
69 domesticated Dutch breed rabbits (pictured on right) were in the
DuPage County Animal Care and Control Center awaiting adoption. All
the rabbits were found in an apartment during an eviction procedure.
The woman who said her financial situation had overwhelmed her did
not present a typical hoarding case. She was caring for the rabbits
and they were in good condition. She is very upset over the loss of
her home and rabbits. The oldest rabbit is about 18 months old.

All
the females have been separated and spayed. The males will be
neutered before they are released for adoption. An animal control
spokeswoman said they thought the woman initially had a pair of
rabbits and got caught in a baby bunny boom. If anyone is
interested in adopting the Dutch bunnies, contact the Dupage Animal
Care and Control Center at www.dupageco.org/animalcontrol
or call 630-407-2800.

I have known more than
one Dutch rabbit and they make excellent pets. I
adopted “Pansy” (a Dutch breed) a few month ago from a local
shelter. She is very smart and turning out to be a sweet,
affectionate pet. Her litter box habits are perfect, too.

New
Rabbit Care Book – This book was first published at the
beginning of 2008: When Your Rabbit Needs Special Care:
Traditional and Alternative Healing Methods by authors Lucile C.
Moore and Kathy Smith. A blog reader who describes herself as a
having three ancient rabbits of 10 years plus and who is devoted to
alternative medicines wrote to me about the book. (I haven’t had a
chance to review it myself yet.) She explained it contained not only
alternative medicine, but also some very practical procedures like
administering subcutaneous fluids. You can find it at any of the
large online book retailers. I am certainly in favor of anything
that promotes long, healthy and comfortable lives for rabbits.

Thai
Topiary - taken last summer by Eric from the UK. A herd of
topiary rabbits on the lawn at the king's summer palace in Thailand:
(click on photo to see larger version).

December
17, 2008 - 10:00 p.m. - Rabbits
on Chairs & Art Sit Well Together! - I found Lorraine Bushek’s
blog and discovered an artist, animal lover, and volunteer with the
Rabbit Advocates
in Portland, Oregon. According to her blog profile, she lives with
her husband, 2 cats and 2+ rescue rabbits (the number is
ever-changing). Lorraine paints rabbits on chairs (and in other
venues) because she believes that rabbits belong in the house with
their caregivers.... not outside in a hutch. The paintings are
amazing so go see them for yourself at Lorraine’s link above. Be
sure to scroll down the entire page of paintings to see more.

Usagi
Ringo -
According to The Yomiuri Shimbun news in Japan about 35 percent of
parents in their 20s, 30s and 40s do not know how to make usagi
ringo (rabbit apple), a piece of an apple with its skin peeled into
the shape of rabbit's ears. Usagi ringo is traditionally a popular
item for children’s bento box lunches. How
to make Usagi Ringo

No Photos with this
Entry because we’re talking about Preparation H. I have used
Bag Balm for mild cases of sore hocks and urine scald on rescued
rabbits, but not Preparation H. But it certainly worked for one
bunny. I saw the proof myself on the rabbit’s bottom after only two
days of use. I had heard about Prep H anecdotally from others and
now I am convinced it can help.

Also, my rabbit Bumble had
“weepy eyes” for the first time in his almost 11 years. The local
temperatures had recently dropped so I had cranked up the heat and
fireplace. As a result, the air in my home is drier than normal. A
drop of regular “Clear Eyes” in each eye for a week has eliminated
the problem. It goes without saying, but I will – always consult
a veterinarian if your rabbit has developed urine scald or
“weepy eyes.” Both conditions can be very serious due to infection
or other issues.

“Crowe
says Rabbits Need to Fend for Themselves”is a headlinecirculating in the news the last couple of days. It does
Not mean Russell Crowe feels bunnies can take care of themselves.
Perhaps it was a joke, but I received an email about “Mr. Crowe’s
inhumane attitude toward rabbits.” Russell Crowe is an owner of a
national rugby team called the Rabbitohs, not a domesticated rabbit.
His team is sometimes referred to as “The Rabbits,” and apparently
he wants them to become fiscally sound on their own. Just a couple
of weeks ago I blogged that Crowe isn’t a rabbit rescuer even though
he wears hats with his team's rabbit logo. (I enjoy his movies.)

December
15, 2008, 9:30 p.m. -

A Rabbit in the Hen House – How can a
chicken cross the road when a bunny blocks the way? A local LA
newspaper reported that one of the newest and popular diversions for
people sitting in cubicles is the Hen Cam. It’s a webcam where you
can look at hens (and a lone lop-eared rabbit named Candy). Candy
isn’t confused about being a rabbit and she teases the other
“chicks.” The lop-eared rabbit creates mischief by flopping in
front of the coop door which seems to frustrate the hens. Hop over
to the hen cam (with bunny) here:http://www.hencam.comCandy is pictured in the coop door. (Photo: Terry
Golson)

Big Bunny Mom - In New Zealand a story appeared in the
newspaper about Frosty, a white Flemish Giant Rabbit and her adopted
Netherland Dwarf foster bunnies. The Netherland Dwarf kits were
abandoned by their mother the day she gave birth. Giant Frosty had
just given birth to her own pair of kits at Stoney Oaks Wildlife
Park. The big doe took in the three orphans. Despite the size
difference Frosty is gentle with her new charges.

BBC
Comfy Corner has an interactive rabbit story for young kids.
It’s called
The Moon & the Rabbit . It could be named “The Elephants & the
Little Rabbits." I wondered what part of Africa creates the setting
for the story since both rabbits and elephants co-exist there.
However, your kids will love this interactive story about rabbits
and elephants in their computer generated tropical background.

Stormy
Makes Connections - The Arizona Republic reported a story about
Pet Connections. Pet Connections is a therapy program offered
by Hospice of the Valley, has many types of animals that visit
patients including a rabbit named “Stormy.” Stormy’s bunny
mom says he will cuddle up to the patients and fall asleep. The
rabbit is 3 1/2 years old and is going into his third year of
helping patients. Stormy had a close call early in life. He was
found soaked during a rainstorm and nursed back to health. Stephanie
Schmidt took him in and her cats took over raising him. "He became a
goofy bunny,” she said. “Patients gravitate to Stormy because he's
so soft.” (Stormy pictured above.)

Plus, a little closer to home if you live in the USA,
the Missouri House
Rabbit Society calendar is always beautifully designed and
photographed. It is available at 2009
Calendar from HRS Missouri. I also
blogged about the 2009 Calendar from HRS Vancouver out of
Canada a while back. So if you live in Canada (or not), see
this desk calendar on their website.

Get
Out Your Rabbit Ears and check out these new educational videos
from the House Rabbit Society. They are created by Drollery
Press. They operate a rabbit sanctuary. The
proceeds go to the support of these sanctuary rabbits.

Rabbit
Adopts Kittens - After blogging about the video of Snaggle Puss
and her adopted kitten, Bubbles yesterday, I received a few emails
asking if rabbits will adopt kittens. I found one in my files
about a lop named Summer who was mom to six kittens after their own
mother abandoned them. They followed her everywhere and from
the picture it looks like they climbed all over Summer, too.

December 3,
2008, 9:30 p.m. - Bunny Blog of the Weird –
you know it's a slow bunny news day when I group some fairly "off
the wall" entries for the blog like below.

Reason
#327 Why Rabbits Should Be House Rabbits – A family in Methil,
Fife Scotland was visited by a “big cat” recently. It mangled their
rabbit hutch. They heard the commotion, but only caught a glimpse
of a large black shape running away. The hutch “was covered in
scratch marks” several feet off the ground and one of the legs of
the hutch was completely detached. Lucky for the rabbit, it was
inside the house with the family during the mysterious attack on the
hutch. The police wildlife liaison officer said he would not rule
out the possibility of one or even a number of big cats at large.
He commented “It’s possible that a creature such as a leopard would
take a pet rabbit.” In Scotland?

What’s with the Tiger Cubs and
Rabbits in China? I received a photo showing rabbits
frolicking with tiger cubs in Sanya, a city in South China's Hainan
Province. Then I received an email with the second photo below of
tiger cubs “playing” with rabbits at a zoo in east China's
Zhejian Province. The rabbit was not harmed by the cub, and was
playing nearby before entering the tigers' cage on his own.

I have two
cats and the newest addition to my bunny family, Pansy plays with my
five year old snowshoe cat.
I also have firsthand experience with maternal cats and baby bunnies
with my first rabbit Groucho and his cat mom, Luca. A recent
addition to Youtube shows a cat caring for an orphaned baby
rabbit. See the video at: Snaggle
Puss & Bubbles

Singing Rabbit Ad
– I finally caught this
Skittles ad on YouTube after hearing about it from several people.
I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. When the man tries to
trade back the rabbit for his Skittles and then lets it run off in
the rain struck me as disturbing. But see for yourself. Any
domesticated rabbit running off into the outdoors in a TV Ad viewed
by millions whether it "escapes" or was abandoned sends the wrong
message. Ad on Youtube

Watch for Falling Rabbits: This sign was sent to me and the
return email address was blocked. I couldn't ask if it was for real.

Rabbit Sign – I found this sign a little odd. (Maybe
it’s the tie.) It sits atop a restaurant called “Chez Zee” in
Austin, Texas. I went to their website and they Do Not serve
rabbit or a rabbit logo beer.

December
2. 2008, 9:00 p.m. - “Long-Eared Guinea Pigs" in Australia?
- Janene from Queensland sent me an article that appeared in her
local newspaper about the ban on pet rabbits. The article quotes a
Pet Industry spokesperson who said at least three tons of rabbit
food is sold through Queensland pet shops every year. It seems there
are hundreds of “long-eared guinea pigs” in homes and a “secretive
network” of people with companion rabbits. There is a heavy fine if
a rabbit is discovered in the home (see photo above). However,
rabbit raids aren’t being conducted on private homes according to
the newspaper article.

Pet owners aren’t the only ones questioning the ban so are the
experts. The RSPCA spokesman said, "Two years after Western
Australia decided to allow pet rabbits, they did an environmental
impact study which concluded the impact was nil.” But it’s unlikely
anything will change soon. An official with the Primary Industries
and Fisheries Ministry recently said, “A decision to maintain the
ban on rabbits as pets was made after extensive community
consultation. There is currently no intention to review this
decision in the near future."

I lived with rabbits in
apartments with lease restrictions on keeping pet rabbits for a
while without detection, but this is ridiculous.

Only
in New York
- In the Metropolitan Diary Section of the New York
Times, a writer recalled a recent incident while walking her dog
Mooshi: “Recently,
a group of men were playing Hacky Sack there [in a park in the
Chinatown area]. Mooshi, who is used to seeing elderly Chinese men
performing tai chi, was intrigued by this new game, and kept staring
at the men. But it wasn’t the Hacky Sackers who had caught Mooshi’s
attention - it was the little white rabbit chewing the grass next to
them. As a native New Yorker, I’m not surprised by the unusual, but
a rabbit? In Chinatown? Mooshi ran toward the unknown creature,
barking. Soon, a shirtless and muscular Hacky Sacker jogged toward
us. I assumed he wanted to know why Mooshi was barking in their
direction, or maybe he wanted to share a laugh about the rabbit.
Instead, he stopped a few inches away from me and, with a stern
face, looking me straight in the eyes, said, ‘Get your dog away from
my bunny!’” (The photo above is Will Bullas’ watercolor
painting, “Bad to the Bun” and you can find prints Here)

Bunny
Bird Cage
- Here's an idea a Bunny Blog reader thought might fly
- house rabbits in habitats intended for chickens. Roger who has 3
rabbits in his Texas home was thinking about using this large
British built poultry house as a model for his rabbits' new luxury
digs in his family room. He thought it was a much better than the
smaller cages and runs sold in pet stores. He has dogs and to avoid
a tragedy, he cages his bunnies during the day when his family is
out. See the website where he found his inspiration: UK-CKC Poultry House

On
the Wild Side: Biologists thought the snowshoe hare cycle in
Interior Alaska reached its peak last year, but this year is also
shaping up with an abundance of the hares. The snowshoe hare
population has a cycle that predictably peaks every 10 years for a
year or two and then plummets. It takes two or three years before it
starts climbing again. The cycle of snowshoe hares in Alaska matches
that in other northern latitudes across Canada. It’s still a great
mystery in ecology how the hare populations can be so synchronized
across such a vast territory.

Frosted
Hare - Speaking of hares, I also received a photo yesterday of
another icy pair of hares, but these were decorating a table along
way from Alaska.

November
25, 2008 - 8:30 p.m. -Topsy Is Comfortable in his Own Skin
- PETA Europe's new anti-fur ad features Topsy, an adorable lop
rabbit and Natalie Imbruglia, Australian singer/actress/model. Both
are gorgeous, of course. You can read about the campaign Here. Over the years PETA has featured
beautiful rabbits with pretty people to garner attention for the
atrocities of the fur trade. Thousands of rabbits are kept and
killed in unimaginable circumstances. You can check outPETA's Shopping Guide to Compassionate Clothingfor cruelty-free resources. Topsy
would approve!

Bunnies
Instead of Babies - PetPlan, a pet insurance provider in the UK
conducted a survey recently that showed 60% of the 3,000 people
surveyed would put off starting a family due to the current economic
downturn. Instead, they would choose a pet. The results were
equally divided among men and women. With all the pets being left at
shelters in the USA due to the economic crisis, I was wondering when
all these folks will start adopting their new fur babies.
Relinquished and abandoned pet are on the rise due to economic
reasons. By the way, Rabbits in the UK survey made the Top 5 most
popular child substitutes: 1) Dog, 2) Cat, 3) Rabbit, 4) Guinea
Pig and 5) Rat. I hope anyone who decides on a bunny (or any
pet) instead of a baby understands the commitment to a pet is a lot
like parenthood!

Lego
Rabbit Art - John from Cleveland (rabbit dad to Spotty and
Runner) emailed this photo he found of a Lego Rabbit. (Click on
photo to see a larger detailed version). John said he'd like to try
this, but he would need money from his Monopoly Game to afford the
amount of Legos it took to do this sculpture.

November
24, 2008 - 9:45 p.m. - Laverne &
Shirley’s Hoppy Days - A pair of Flemish Giant rabbits received
a lot of publicity when they were awaiting adoption at the Humane
Society of the Treasure Coast. The two big girls at 20 lbs. each
were adopted by the Dills family of Vero Beach, Florida. A friend
of the family had seen the report on the hefty bunnies on TV and
told them about the pair. The Dills had just purchased a baby
Flemish Giant the week before. The Dills family hopes to eventually
start a rabbit rescue organization. The family has five other
bunnies, four of them are rescues. Most importantly, this is a very
hoppy ending for Laverne and Shirley (pictured above) who came to
the Humane Society after their previous owner passed away.

Feral
Rabbits in Canada
- According to the local Vernon newspaper in
British Columbia, Canada the overpopulation of feral domesticated
rabbits could force tight regulations. The North Okanagan Regional
District board is going to determine if local municipalities want a
bylaw regulating the sale of unaltered rabbits.

The concept for a bylaw demanding that rabbits be spayed or neutered
was put before the committee by Rabbit Rescue, a volunteer group
that live traps rabbits. They have the rabbits neutered or spayed
and find them homes. “We have all but eradicated the feral rabbit
problem in Vernon, but we are getting more calls from elsewhere in
the North Okanagan.” Rabbit Rescue went on to say, “The only way to
stop the problem is to shut off the source [rabbit sales].”

Practice
Turns into Rabbit Rescue – In Denver firefighters practicing
ways to rescue victims of rollover crashes had the chance to test
their skills. They found a rabbit trapped inside a wheel of the
truck they were about to carve up. Apparently, one of the
firefighters looked up into a wheel well, and saw two shiny brown
eyes staring back. The twitching nose made them realize the bunny
was alive and probably their next door neighbor. The rabbit had
been minding his own business until the firefighters had ruined his
day by turning the truck over. With their new hydraulic saw, the
rescuers started to extract the rabbit. Once the rabbit was freed,
it was discovered he was covered in antifreeze and so they had to
decontaminate the patient in a bath. The bunny endured the ordeal,
and after his wash and fluff, he was released. The firefighters were
smiling as the bunny hopped off – it was a good rescue!

Baseball Bunny Manager - The new Seattle Mariners Baseball
Manager, Don Wakamatsu has a pet rabbit. His name is Dexter. The
bunny takes walks on a leash with the family. Asked to explain
himself following his introductory news conference at Safeco Field,
Wakamatsu said it wasn’t his idea to get the rabbit. However,
"Dexter's mine by default.” His wife said that he built a fenced in
area in the backyard so Dexter could run around. Early next year,
Wakamatsu will head to Seattle with his family plus Dexter, their
rabbit and their dog, “Asia.”

November
19, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. - British Bunny Gets a New Chariot –
Four year old, Ethel, a beautiful white lop was paralyzed by a
disease earlier this year. Zoe would not have her pet bunny put
down against the advice of vets. Ethel lost control of her bladder
and bowels, but she wears a special bunny diaper at night. Zoe
researched and found a company in the USA(Dogs
to Goin Texas) that makes custom carts for disabled pets. Zoe says, “It
gave Ethel a new lease on life. At first she struggled to keep her
balance and kept tipping over, but she soon got to grips with it
especially on flat surfaces. Now she loves it. As soon as we put
her in it, she starts hopping around and really enjoys it. Ethel
was even featured on British TV on "Cutting Edge: Special Needs
Pets." Photo:
SWNS

By the way, the prices
on theDogs to Go website are
the most reasonable I have seen for this type of cart. The “extra
small” size (10 lb. and less) is $65.00 which does not include
shipping, or extra wheels, etc. Visit their website link above for
current pricing and more information. Also, visit Hopperhome’s web
page Caring for a
Disabled Rabbit for more information on disabled rabbit care.

Photo of the Day: Occasionally I
receive a picture in the email that depicts rabbits in our culture
in some fairly odd ways. These orange rabbit themed caution
tape holders would get anyone's attention:

On the Wild Side: The Amami rabbit is an unusual
rabbit since it evolved in isolation on two small islands in Japan.
It is designated as
an endangered species in Japan with fewer than 5,000 left. In order
to save the species Japanese scientists say they have now created a
cloned embryo from cells taken from a rabbit that had previously
died. In 30 days they will know if they are successful when the host
mother rabbit gives birth. The chances are less than 10% they will
end up with a true Amami rabbit in the mix of genes. If one of the
offspring looks like the pudgy fellow pictured above, they may have
accomplished their goal.

Amami rabbits have dark
brown dense fur with heavy bodies, short legs, small ears and no
tail. They also have long, curved claws. Amami have a call that
sounds like another lagomorph - the pika. His nose is definitely a
bunny nose and so is that inquiring tilt of the head. Amami don’t
breed as prolifically as their cousins like the domesticated rabbits
or other wild rabbits. They only give birth to one offspring twice a
year.

The Amami Rabbit
is endangered, due to the usual suspects like hunting (stopped in
1921) before legal protection. Deforestation is another cause along
with predation by dogs, cats, and especially an introduced mongoose
released by people to kill poisonous snakes.

November
18, 2008 – 7:30 p.m. - Is that “O’Hare” Airport? No, it is a
56 foot long red fiberglass rabbit that will be installed in the new
terminal building
at the Sacramento International Airport in 2011. (That year just
happens to be the next Chinese Year of the Rabbit.) The rabbit will
soar in the terminal’s rafters toward a sculpted suitcase
across a four-story atrium near baggage claim below. The artist,
Lawrence Argent, “hopes the public will find the artwork amusing and
invigorating.”

Perched
Lionhead
- Janene from Colchester in the UK, emailed me a story about a
rabbit, Eragon, and his human, Mr. Fletcher, from Clacton-on-Sea.
It seems Eragon, a dwarf Lionhead rabbit enjoys perching on Mr.
Fletcher’s shoulder as he goes about his business in town.
According to a video of the two (link below), it all started when
Eragon was 7 weeks old. He would hop on Fletcher’s shoulder
when he was asleep on the sofa. The rabbit was content as his human
walked around the house and it evolved from there. I love this
video - Play Video HereMost rabbits detest being off the
ground, but Eragon started very early and in a non-threatening way.
It looks like both human and rabbit enjoy their time together.

Bunny
is Welcome to Lunch with Rhino Umquali
– A very small wild rabbit has lunch dates with a white rhinoceros
at home in a compound at the Western Plains Zoo in New South Wales,
Australia. The rabbit now known as “Robby” is the only rabbit brave
enough out of his colony to join the mother rhino and her calf,
Nadira for meals. They make an odd pair in their size difference of
a 2 ton rhino and about a 2 pound rabbit: See Full Article Here with more photos.
Click on photo above to see larger version.

November
17, 2008 - 8:30 p.m. Hop Hop Hooray! Petco Will Stop Selling
Rabbits. Petco issued a press release today stating they
will phase out the sale of rabbits in favor of adoptions by early
2009. They went on to say that that they already work with
rabbit and humane groups in several areas to provide in-store rabbit
adoptions, and now want to expand that effort. (Petco
News Story)

About a third
of their 950 stores offer rabbits for sale currently. This is
great news. I applaud Petco for this humane decision. This new
program will help in several ways. First, it will prevent
further impulse purchases of rabbits at Petco stores, it will offer
rescue/adoption groups a good venue for "adoption days," and most
importantly rabbits will find good homes. See House Rabbit Society Press Release

Pancake
Bunny - The Petco news is enough good news for one day, but I
want to share a photo sent to me by a Bunny Blog reader yesterday.
I knew about Oolongthe pancake wearing rabbit from Japan. But even though my
dad was a chef, I never ate pancakes quite like the one pictured on
the left. By the way, never share your pancakes with your
rabbit for breakfast. Also I don't recommend your rabbit wear
one as "performance head art" even though Oolong was an
internet sensation.

November
16, 2008 - 9:00 p.m. - A
Pair of Boys Saved a Pet Rabbit in Raynes Park, UK this last
week. They found Patches wandering on a street on their way to
school. They immediately took the bunny to a nearby veterinary
clinic where it happened Patch’s brother Fluffy was scheduled for a
visit the next day. The family who lost their rabbit said Patches
had been missing for four days and they were very grateful to the
boys pictured above who rescue him. Four days for any pet rabbit
outdoors is a very long time and Patches is very lucky to have
survived.

In
search of the First Pet – My vote is for a white house rabbit,
of course. But it looks like the president elect’s first girls are
set on a puppy. I’d like to see a real rabbit on the White House
Lawn instead of the Easter Bunny (pictured on left) who visits every
spring. The only First Family that had a "first rabbit" was John F.
Kennedy’s clan. They had a white rabbit named Zsa Zsa among several
other pets.

Rabbitohs
are a Rugby Team - I received an email last week from Melissa
who lives in New York City. It seems Melissa spotted Russell Crowe
with a hat similar to the one on the right and she wanted to know if
he was involved in rabbit rescue. I don’t have any idea if Russell
Crowe enjoys the fluffy type of pet rabbit, but I do know he is a
co-owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, a National Rugby League
Team. The team is also known as “The Bunnies,” or “The Rabbits” in
Australia. The team was founded in 1908 and got their name, “Rabbitohs,”
from their early days when they earned money by selling rabbits.
Not exactly a rabbit rescue activity and it was discontinued a long
time ago. I’m sure they are a fine rugby team and if Russell Crowe
is ever involved in rabbit rescue, I will be the first to write
about it in the Bunny Blog.

Animated
Big Rabbit - If you haven’t seen Big Buck Bunny, it is a short
animated film created by a company in the Netherlands. It tells the
story of a giant rabbit with a heart who is harassed by three
mischievous rodents. In the typical cartoon tradition he prepares
the nasty rodents a comical revenge. If you have kids, they would
enjoy it.
See Big Bunny HereAlso, I really enjoyed the images on the
website (like the one above - "Don't Mess with the Bunny") and you
can Download Images Here.
Big Buck Bunny reminds me of my own big white bunny, Mr. Hops.

November
12, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. - The Grass is Greener - About once a
week I treat my rabbits to wheat grass. I don't grow my own,
but I find it locally in the produce section of the grocery store
sprouted about 4 to 5 inches high. Wheat grass is
highly nutritional and full of vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
It is certainly safe for rabbits. Most people buy it to juice
it and drink it themselves as a "living food." Wheat grass is simple
to grow and it is a lot less expensive than store bought. You
can find the seeds for sprouting in a natural foods store or go on
the web and search for "wheat grass." Hundreds of websites
will result. They sell everything from the seeds only to growing
kits online. I have never had a rabbit turn it down after a
quick sniff. Like a bunch of little lagomorph lawnmowers, they
mow it down in minutes.

A
Rare Rabbit Cancer -
Yesterday I received an email from Bill in Northern California about
his rabbit, Radar, who had been diagnosed with Thymoma and passed
away shortly thereafter. He wondered if I knew anyone whose rabbit
had developed this disease. Fortunately, I haven’t encountered this
relatively rare cancer in rabbits myself. Thymomas are tumors of the
thymus gland (other mammals including humans have a thymus, too).
I’m sure vets are seeing it more in the last few years since house
rabbits are living longer and it seems to be prevalent in senior
rabbits. Treatment options for thymoma are expensive and difficult
choices such as surgery, or radiation therapy. Here are three
articles about the disease: House Rabbit
Society – Thymomas in Rabbits,
AMiracle
for Hopnoodle and Virginia Rabbits – Dusty’s Journey with Thymoma.

November
11, 2008 - 9:00 p.m. -
“Pansy” Blooms in Her New Home – introducing Miss Pansy, my new one year old rabbit from the humane society. Her records
indicated that she was already spayed, and had lived with children
and lots of cats. A cage in a garage was her primary residence. I
love a challenge.

My 10 year old lop, Bumble, has
been consistent in his daily attempts to coax Pansy to be
friendly. It is going to take time. This little 4 lb. bunny wasn't
very socialized and obviously didn’t recognize a fresh vegetable
when offered at first. Initially, she sat in a corner and boxed me
every time I came near. Three weeks later she isn’t running for
cover or rearing up to throw a paw at me. Fortunately, Pansy is
fastidious and used her litter box from day one. As for my cats,
they are polite, but she seems to think they are her rightful
species. Fortunately, Bumble is a very patient old rabbit. Pansy’s
antics in the puppy pen next door seem to have lifted his spirits.

Artful
Rabbits Everywhere - Visit
Kozydan
-This is a website for a
couple that freelance as illustrators in Los Angeles and have
created some fascinating posters featuring rabbits. If you visit
their website at the link above take a look at the poster "Grey
Hares" in the larger version to see all the rabbits in the print.
It’s a delightful surprise. "Bunnies Fall" is another wonderful
print overflowing with rabbits. My favorite is a toss up between
"Bunny Blossoms" (on the left) and "Uprisings." The posters
are a bargain for under $20 each.

Click on photo to see larger
version or better yet, see all the hoppy posters at their link
above.

Hare
Mat – here’s one you don’t have to groom. It’s a door mat based
on a 1920’s pictogram. I believe I read they are made out of
coconut fiber (and if you’d rather, you can get a hippo door mat
instead). They are on the pricey side at over $100 . I think I’d
hang it on the wall instead of let people or pets hop all over it.
Find it Here

Eggstatic
over Rabbits – for the rabbit fan who has everything there are
Bunny Egg Cozies from Germany. These felt
bunny cozies come in gray, pink or lavender and are about 6.5 inches
tall when ears flop. Breakfast is fun again!

November
10, 2008, 8:30 p.m - DogBlogs About Bunnies –
on ABC Channel 7 in Denver. There is a blog in the Family Section of
their website and normally the human Ross blogs. But, this
time the dog, “Oden,” blogged about his visit to a foster home for
two beautiful rabbits, Daisy and Thumper. You can see the article
Here.
The two adorable rabbits are available for adoption at the Evergreen Animal Protective League Website.
The article also noted that the Colorado House Rabbit Society
has 120 rabbits who need homes! By the way, the rabbit foster
mom, Beverly, is an artist and she creates beautiful rabbits
paintings. Click on the photo above to see the detail in the
painting!

Fine
Changes at Oxbow Hay – First of all, if you haven’t been to the
Oxbow Hay website
lately, there are some great changes. It has a spiffy new look!
All the same products are still available. However, I noticed in
the veterinary section for health related products, Oxbow is now
offering Critical Care – Fine
Grind. This is a
great idea. Critical Care is a product you can get
through your vet or with your vet’s okay through Oxbow Hay. It is a
recovery food which can be given to your rabbit that can’t or won’t
eat their normal diet due to illness, surgery or poor nutritional
status.

Critical
Care
has helped save more than one rabbit I have rescued or rehabilitated
from a serious illness. But, my one issue was that I had to mix the Critical Care
powder with a lot of water so it would easily go through a syringe
for feeding. With this new fine grind Critical Care, Oxbow has
solved this problem. Thank you Oxbow Hay! If
you want to get a large syringe to keep on hand, you can find them
at Bunny Bytes – Outfitters of the Urban Rabbit.
Bunny Bytes also has their Christmas bunny products online for some
early shopping for that special rabbit.

Bunny
Bento – Jennifer from New York (bunny mom to Buster &
Shogun) just came back from Japan and she sent me these photos
of bento boxes featuring rabbit designs. A bento box is a
packed meal (normally lunch) with different sections for each
food. They are prepared with a lot of care and artistry.
Check out the "strawberry rabbit" face below. Click on photos to
see larger versions.

I have so many photos of Bunny Bento Boxes and
Usagi treats that have been sent to me from Japan, they need their
own web page.

November
9, 2008 - 8:00 p.m. - It’s a Zoo Out There
– Some bunnies found a home in the Oakland Zoo recently. Normally,
I don’t like to see rabbits in zoos where they are sometimes
squeezed between the goats and chickens in the “Farm Exhibit.” But
this time 14 cute rabbits are now housed in a large exhibit in the
Wayne and Gladys Valley Children’s Zoo in Oakland. From all the
articles I read, it seems the rescuers and zoo staff understand the
rabbits’ plight as ex-Easter pets. Their
exhibit is located next to the WildLife Theater in the Children’s
Zoo.
Click Hereto
watch the local television news story about the rabbits with a view
of their new “digs.” (Pictured above are two of the new zoo
rabbits.)

The
rabbits had been turned loose on the grounds of the Laney College
baseball field and then the college officials noticed they were
multiplying fast. Traps were set to catch them and a volunteer from
the shelter noticed. She left a note on the traps that she wanted
to rescue them. After the first six rabbits were easy caught, the
rest were more evasive while their rescuers waited for hours to
round them all up. By the way,
Oakland Animal Services has
lots of spayed and neutered rabbits available for adoption.

Boy, Oh Boy – Bunnies
Rescued by Family
- A kind family and the SPCA in Canada helped save three
domesticated pet rabbits abandoned deep in the woods. The family
(including their three boys) were looking for firewood in the forest
when they heard a rooster crowing so they went to investigate. On
top of a big woodpile sat a beautiful Bantam rooster and in the
woodpile were two beautiful bunnies they described as “definitely
out of their element.”

The rabbits were abandoned with a little hay and no food. The
family contacted the Queens SPCA in Nova Scotia and they visited the
site with them. Live traps were used to capture two of the three
rabbits, and on a subsequent search the third rabbit was caught and
brought to safety. The family who originally found the rabbits
couldn’t keep the rabbits themselves, and the mother said explaining
such cruelty to her sons was difficult. ““My three boys are animal
lovers and to think anyone could hurt an animal - they can’t
comprehend that, they just don’t get that. I told my children some
people can’t afford to keep animals anymore and let them go but what
they should do is call the SPCA to help out. That’s why we had to
save them.” The rabbits pictured above with the boys are now up for
adoption.

Finding
Sanctuary - It is not only pets in the United States that are
falling victim to the financial crunch. In Bradford, United KingdomBunny Camp Sanctuaryowner Sonia McDonough is hopping mad because
people are abandoning pets they can no longer afford like the five
rabbits brought to her in one week recently. According to the
article, Sonia and her family have 40 rabbits at their home where
they operate their non-profit rabbit sanctuary. She said she was
seeing one rabbit a month come in and now it has exploded. The
rabbit pictured above with Sonia is six month old Melita. This
rabbit was discovered shivering in a park by an elderly couple who
took her to Bunny Camp. The rabbit’s ears were badly infected.
Visit the Bunny Camp Sanctuary website at the link above.

Fill’er
Up - Time to Help the House Rabbit Society Build Up their Emergency
Rescue Fund
– Since the Emergency Rescue Fund was began in 2007, the House
Rabbit Society has helped to fund other organizations as well as HRS
Chapters who need help with large rescues. It’s impressive that the
HRS has spent $11,000 so far and you can see which groups have
received fundsHere.
Make a donation
to this fund at link. (Be sure to include
Emergency Rescue Fund
in the description field of the online donation form. Also,
donations via snail mail are also gratefully accepted.)

Mobile
Bunnies
- On the island of Funen in Denmark, Flensted Mobiles, a family
business, designs and makes mobiles. I found this rabbit themed
mobile online at Design Public. The mobile features five
geometrical bunnies, all made out of circles. (Click on photo to see
larger version) It’s a perfect gift for newborns or someone who
would enjoy watching the slow motion of the bunnies enliven their
space. Find it at
Flensted Bunnies Mobile at Design Public

A heartfelt "Thank You"
to everyone who sent me emails and e-cards of condolences.
I haven't been able to answer each one. I was overwhelmed at how
many people contacted me about Hops' passing. I want you to know all
of your kinds words and thoughts were very much appreciated!

I miss seeing Hops' run to see me with his
happy head shakes when I get home at night. Hops was always
"the comedian" and full of spirit. He was a real joy and it
was a privilege to have him in my life for as long as I did.

Mr.
Hops Crosses the Rainbow Bridge - I lost my big, beautiful,
white house bunny today, Mr. Hops (aka “Hopper Bopper”). He went to
the vet on Tuesday because I noticed he wasn’t eating that morning
and was sitting hunched up. Hops loved to graze on his hay so I
knew something was very wrong. He was fine the night before. I was
fortunate to get him into an experienced rabbit vet since my regular
rabbit vet was out. The vet diagnosed GI Stasis. She started
treatment and by evening he was doing better and eating some
hay. His symptoms were diminishing. I checked him at noon today and
I realized he wasn’t out of danger. When I came home tonight I
noticed his best buddy, Mr. Bumble grooming him like crazy and Hops
was flopped on his side. Hops had not been able to flop on his side
since he had a seizure 8 years ago when I first rescued him. I knew
then that he was gone.

Mr.
Hops befriended Bumble my little crippled 10 year old lop rabbit and
spent hours grooming him and cuddling up next to him.

Hops could intimidate cats. He jumped over them, turned 180 degrees
and lunged at them grunting. He never met a vacuum cleaner that he
feared. Once when I came too close with a hand vacuum before he was
neutered, he took aim and sprayed my head. No apology. However,
after he was fixed Hops would sit quietly beside me and grind his
teeth in his bunny purr when he was happy which was often. He would
wake me up by throwing his toys especially when I slept in on the
weekends. When I’d come home from work he would do a happy head
shake and hop to see me at the fence of his pen. He was a Lavender
Point Californian Breed Rabbit who loved pets and kisses on his
forehead most of all. After Hops was rehabilitated completely about
a year or so after his rescue he wasn’t sick until this past Tuesday
– almost 7 years later. I will miss him. Hop's
Story

“My
heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend stopped running today.”
Watership Down

August
5, 2008 - 9:00 p.m. - Letter Opening Stars - A
rabbit named Texx might need a publicist now. The video of the
1-year-old dwarf rabbit opening an envelope with his teeth has
generated close to a million views on YouTube. The rabbit’s human is
a young woman who is a 27 year old graduate of MIT. She took the
video of her bunny chewing the side of the envelope of her Chase
credit card bill in November 2007. She said her bunny Texx had a
thing for eating paper. In fact, he once ate her homework. “I just
decided to videotape him because it was just so funny,” After a few
months, the head of Plankton Productions, company that operates
bestofyoutube.com,
featured the video on its web site. As of Monday, the video has
generated over 800,000 views and counting. Watch it at:MIT Bunny Letter Opener.
Of course, rabbits love paper and there are some cute “copy rabbits”
such asDutch Rabbit Open Letters, Tooand
My bunny Can Open letters.If
you want to see a talented card chewing rabbit watch: A Very Talented Bunny – Rabbit &
Cats Play Cards

46
Rabbits Rescued
- The Buffalo News reported late last week that
46 rabbits were pulled from “a dilapidated ‘hutch’ in a yard outside
a dangerously cluttered house" in Newstead, NY (that’s near
Buffalo). The rabbits were stained with filth and badly infested
with ear mites. One had a broken leg. Fortunately, an anonymous
caller tipped off the SPCA about rabbits and other animals “living
in squalid conditions on the property.” The SPCA officer went to
the house the same day and was concerned when she saw the condition
of the house and the backyard. She went back to get a search warrant
and returned Wednesday with more officers. All of the animals were
taken to the SPCA where a team of vets were waiting for them. The
SPCA learned that the couple and their three children were on
vacation. Conditions were so bad inside the house he SPCA also
notified housing authorities and Child Protective Services.

You
Know It’s a Slow News Day When . . . a fiery red cardinal is
featured in the local paper making a fuss over a rabbit. The
bird saw a cottontail attempting to move in on his food. I have
squirrel, wild bird and cottontail squabbles outside my back door
quite often. The squirrel always wins.

Hare
Raising Escape -
In Dekalb County, Georgia a family was trapped by spreading fire in
their second story apartment. They tossed out mattresses and then
dropped their children on to the soft landings. I have to give one
father a lot of credit for not only saving his children, but for
also tossing out two pet birds and the family’s pet rabbit to the
mattresses. The parents then jumped out themselves. Pets and
people were all fine after their daring escape.

Mix
It Up
– Ming Tong is a designer who makes home appliances fun
and even seem a little frivolous. Look at this RabMixer. It’s cute
instead of modern stainless. It comes in other colors, too. I
don’t bake enough cakes to buy one just for fun. (I wonder if Amy
Sedaris could use one for her cupcake business.) It doesn’t seem to
be available online or local retailers yet. But I like it – carrot
cake, anyone? Designer:
Ming Tong

Buried
Bunnies Saved in UK – a bunch of folks came together in a
community in Cumberland to save some kits when they popped out of a
load of chippings being delivered by a landscape company. The little
European rabbits poked through the ruble and people started hopping
to their aid. They carefully dug out four kits. Volunteers cleaned
them up and they started to liven up. The rabbits were small enough
to fit in the palm of a hand. They went to a wildlife rehabilitator
who will release them when they are old enough. All were thriving.
One volunteer on hearing the hoppy ending said, “That’s brilliant
news. “Isn’t life fantastic when you can help.”

Orange
Isn’t Necessarily an Alert
– I get one or two emails a week from
people new to pet rabbits. They are frantic about orange or reddish
urine. (I was, too, with my first rabbit.) After asking them about
diet, the color can be accounted for by something like carrots in
the diet. A rabbit’s urine can vary from yellow to orange to brown
to red. It depends on diet, hydration and even medications. Blood
in urine is rare and is an emergency. The color of urine I am most
concerned about in my house is white, “sludgy” urine. This is due
to excess calcium in the diet and the urine can sometimes look like
it is “sandy.” If kidney stones develop, it can mean surgery. It is
certainly painful for a rabbit. My sister, Bonnie, administers
fluids to her senior Netherland Dwarf (9 years old) twice a week for
this reason. For excellent reading on the subject see these
articles:
Aging Bunny, Aging Bladderon
the New York House Rabbit Society Chapter website and these two
articles on the
House Rabbit Society
website:
Bladder Disease and Bladder Disease in the Rabbit and
Red Urine: Blood or Plant Pigment

Update: Bumble Bunny is better, but he's headed to the
vet tomorrow just in case.

August
3, 2008 - Bunny Blog will be updated evening of August 5th.
My 10 year old lop bunny, Bumble, is ill and he is taking all of
my attention. He's a tough little guy, but he's up there in years
for a rabbit. His best bunny buddy, Mr. Hops, hasn't left his side.

July
28, 2008 - Noon - Happy Birthday Beatrix Potter! Today is the
Beatrix Potter’s birthday – she would have been 142 years old. I
have always admired Beatrix Potter because even though she was the
creator of wonderfully illustrated children’s stories, she was
talented in many other ways. Despite growing up as a daughter in a
Victorian era family she was an artist and writer, and known as a
gifted natural scientist and botanical illustrator. In her later
years she bought farmlands and became a sheep expert. She was also a
conservationist and left her lands in a national trust.

But
most of all Beatrix loved animals and the 'real' Peter Rabbit who
was a Belgian buck rabbit she called Peter Piper. She said of Peter
that he was 'bought at a very tender age, in the Uxbridge Road,
Shepherd's Bush, for the exorbitant sum of 4/6'. This little rabbit
she called her 'affectionate companion' gave his first name to one
of the world's best-loved fictional characters. (Rabbit illustration
on left is her drawing of the "real" Peter Rabbit.)

July
27, 2008 - 9:00 p.m. - "My
Rabbit Hoppy" is a short film shot in a Melbourne backyard for a
few hundred dollars and starring the filmmaker's children and their
pet rabbit was in the running for one of the Cannes Film Festivals
top prizes earlier this summer.
My Rabbit Hoppy
was the creation of Oscar-nominated director Anthony Lucas and was
among nine contenders for the coveted short film Palme d'Or (Golden
Palm). The film tells the tale of a school project that turns
horribly wrong. Lucas's wife, Julia, produced the movie and their
children, Henry, 8, and Peggy, 6, acted in it alongside co-star
Hoppy. Lucas said this about Hoppy, "It's funny because I never
wanted the rabbit but the wife and kids wanted a pet rabbit because
they're all doe-eyed, but I knew I'd end up being the one to look
after it all the time," he said.

Benny’s From Heaven:
I loved the first person article in the Columbus Dispatch by Kathy
Soukup about her rabbit "Benny." Turns out Benny was a girl bunny
who Kathy had spayed. Benny was destined for her basement to
live, but never made it past the kitchen where she lives in a large
pen. Read Kathy’s article at the link above. I could relate to
Kathy’s statement about shopping for fresh veggies at the
supermarket – “I
shop often for the freshest produce; the supermarket thinks I have a
wonderfully correct diet. And, in fact, I am starting to incorporate
some Benny food into my eating.” Hopperhome agrees that having a
rabbit companion is better for your health in more ways than one!

German
Police Take “Bunny Murders” Very Seriously- The victims have names
like Rocco, Fussel, Marianne and Fluffy. They are the “bunny
murders” — 40 domestic rabbits all killed at night in their hutches
in the Ruhr Valley area of Germany. If the killing of rabbits isn’t
enough, now police are concerned “that whoever is killing rabbits
may go on to kill humans.” “Sadists often begin with violence
against animals,” said Mark Benecke, a criminal psychologist who has
been advising the police since the killings began last year. The
German police are dedicated to finding the criminal responsible.
About 300 breeders have been interviewed. The assumption is that the
killer is male and computer-literate because he seems to have
identified houses with backyard rabbit hutches by using Google
Earth. They think he is most likely living locally. Rabbits in the
Ruhr Valley are bred for competition and some as pets. Now breeders
are bringing their rabbits indoors and/or installing alarm systems.

Jumping
on the Bed & Other Bunny Fun from YouTube - Louise from Arkansas
sent me this linkArkansas Bunny Rabbit Rescue 2008that recorded
a couple of good old boys rescuing a cottontail rabbit during the
flooding earlier this year. The bunny is stranded, captured
(without a lot of finesse), but taken to dry land. The rabbit does
decide to jump ship and swim the last few feet to shore. After all,
it is a wild rabbit and the stress of the rescue itself was probably
enough for one day. Also, once I get to YouTube, it’s hard to leave
and all of a sudden I found myself watching “binky videos” of happy
pet rabbits. Some of my favorites were the multitude of rabbits in
the
HRS Binki Movie,
two videos that share the name “ultimate" in their titles
Ultimate Binky Movie,
The Ultimate Binky. There is a happy, athletic
bunny featured in
The Bunny Olympics. Of several videos which
show rabbits jumping on human beds, I liked this one - Even
bunnies like to jump on the bed.Bernie
Dancing on Lucy
shows a rabbit dancing on a poor dog who really doesn’t understand
what all the fuss is about.

July
24, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. - Rabbit Hero Hops to Rescue – a rabbit
simply named “Rabbit” was all over the news today touted as a hero
in Melbourne, Australia. A beautiful black rabbit saved the lives of
an Australian couple from a fire that was burning in their house as
they slept according to the Times. Rabbit awoke his owners by
thumping loudly in his cage as smoke poured through the house.
The blaze spread fast and destroyed part of the house and roof. But
Rabbit saved the humans (and himself) just in time. Rabbit is
normally allowed to roam the house freely except at night when he is
in his cage. The fire commander said Rabbit had been responsible for
rescuing Mr. and Mrs. Finn. "The rabbit saved the couple from
injury," he said. Pictured above are Mrs. Finn and
her hero - Rabbit. See CNN video: Bunny saves couple from fire

Lucky Bunnies Hop to a new life in Massachusetts at the Lowell Humane Society.Some good Samaritans rescued a total of eight
rabbits (most New Zealands) at an interstate intersection near
Littleton, MA. They were dumped by three people and six of the
rabbits have survived their ordeal. These stories of rabbit
abandonment are heartbreaking, but there are always kind people who
hop to help these rabbits. I read it every day in my research for
the Bunny Blog.

Rabbit
Doll - Ted Sato was inspired by the pretty bento box food art on
the Bunny Blog Tuesday and sent me this photo of a Usagi-doshi
Kokeshi, a year of the rabbit doll he bought for his daughter who
was born in 1999. The dolls are given for birthdays, and other
holidays and for good luck in Japan. The next Year of the Rabbit is
in 2011 just two years away. (Other past rabbit years are: 1927,
1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987) You can find the Kodeshi Dolls at Japanese Shop online.

It's Just Fine - in the UK a father
was fined for kids neglecting pet rabbits – Julian (a bunny
lover from London) sent me an article about a fellow who was
prosecuted by the RSPCA because his four children neglected their
pet bunnies. The dad said the children “`nagged and nagged' him for
pets until he `gave in'. So he bought Fasty, Bubbles and Squeak and
installed them in a wooden rabbit hutch in their garden. The kids
lost interest shortly thereafter. A neighbor tipped off the RSPCA
that one rabbit had died and the others were in dirty hutches and
malnourished. The father said: "I would urge all parents to make
sure their children keep on top of their duties. My children nagged
and nagged me for pets and I gave in. Then I find myself in court.”
He also paid a fine of 500 pounds. The rabbits were seized and will
be adopted out to another home.

24
Carrot Rabbits – Last month the ASPCA released their list of the
cost of caring for various pets. Keeping rabbits as your companions
is more expensive this year. Dr. Katherine Miller, assistant
science advisor for the ASPCA and chief author of this year’s
listing, said not everyone is aware of the equipment a rabbit needs,
such as a large cage or pen, toys to keep its teeth healthy, a
litter box, bedding and abundant hay in addition to other food such
as pellets. She said “Rabbit food is a bit more expensive than cat
food.” Annual care for a rabbit was estimated at $730 while a cat
was $670. Miller stressed that although the figures released are
estimates, they are not “guesstimates.” “I think the estimates are
very solid this year,” she said. “It is a scientific process.” Any
bunny knows the price of hay has gone up and so have veggies for
those of us who feed their bunnies fresh salad.

July
22, 2008 - 8:00 p.m. - “Hi,
bunny, You're Home”
- There was a great article and video about a new chapter of
Rabbit Rescue Started by Patti Brant and Liz Ober in Daytona Beach.
(The original group is based in
Gainesville.)
They were motivated to help after seeing a growing number of rabbits
ending up at the Halifax Humane Society, where they volunteer. A
pure white bunny named Snoopy was featured in the article. It seems
“not long ago, Snoopy was anything but pampered and loved. His
owners foreclosed on their house and pet. When rescued, Snoopy's
nails were 3 inches long and his collar was tightening like a vise
around his neck.” Snoopy was left to die, but now he has a
forever home with Liz Ober. (Snowball with Patti Brant above.)

Kathy
Finelli who is the program director for Rabbit Rescue in Gainesville
explained the difference in having a rabbit in the home. Also,
there is a great
Video about Rabbit Rescue accompanying the
article.

Hoppy
Endings
- The Pittsburgh Tribune Review wrote about Wendy Weir who “was
scared and confused in her new surroundings. She couldn't find food
or shelter. She was dehydrated and sick with diseases from the more
than 15 ticks that latched onto her skin.” Wendy is a young Mini Rex
rabbit and at the time she was alone and slowly dying in the
Greenwood Cemetery in O'Hara. Fortunately, Wendy was rescued by Mary
Cvetan founder of the
Pittsburgh House Rabbit Club
Wendy the rabbit was named afterthe Weir
family, who maintains the cemetery grounds.
The Rex rabbit had to have “parts of her thick, jet-black coat of
velvety fur shaved to remove the ticks” But according to Mary,
“"She would live on my lap if I let her," She has hopes that when
Wendy’s health is back to normal she will find a family and have a
permanent indoor home. I like Mary’s last thought in the article:
"There's a lot of houses out there that need bunnies in them." (Mary
and Wendy are pictured above.)

Hopping Around the Web
–
Dora-Marie’s Flickr Web Page has the most
“hare”larious and sweet video of her female rabbit Noisette who
enjoys napping with her male cat Tigger. See the video at the link
above. Crafty Rabbits: I am amazed at some of the creative
crafts with rabbit themes at Esty like a
Pink Bunny Mini ClutchLook closely at the
design when you visit the website. That is definitely a rabbit in
the pink design. Are you absolutely knitty about rabbits – it seems
Nanette Blanchard is and she has a pattern for Rabbit Finger Puppets
on her
Knitting in Color Blog. She has
used this pattern to make puppets for the
shelter to sell in their gift shop. See some
adorable pet rabbits ready for adoption in Albuquerque, visit her
other web siteFour Corners Bunnies.

Play with Your Bunny Food
- Hiroko sent this wonderful photo of how she and her friends
celebrate usagi (rabbits) in Japan. Not as food, but as foodie art!
So get out your kitchen utensils and see if you can recreate this
work of art!

April
29, 2008 - 9:45 p.m. - Update on
Midwest Rabbit Rescue & Rehome
& ZooToo– They
deserve big bunny Congratulations for placing sixth in
Zootoo's
million-dollar shelter makeover contest! It was a dramatic 11th
hour effort and rabbit fans from all over the country supported
them. They had dropped out of the top 20, to 21, but gained close
to 900 new members over the final weekend and soared into sixth
place. Midwest Rabbit Rescue & Rehome is the only rescue
specifically for rabbits that competed. They will receive $5,000
for their rescue makeover. The rabbits are the real winners here!
The 20 finalists will be presented at the HSUS's Animal Care Expo in Orlando on May 15th. (Foxy pictured
above is one of the rescue's handsome rabbits ready for a new home.)

Poster
Rabbits in Singapore – Linda (mom to Muppet the rabbit) from Los
Angeles emailed me two posters shown here after her trip to visit a
friend in Singapore. She thought the "shelf rabbit" poster was from
a 2006 campaign by the Singapore Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority.
There were several posters made with "shelved" dog, cat, rodents and
the one shown below featuring a rabbit. The other poster showing a
child in a bunny suit crying in a hallway is a
campaign against abandoning pets. It’s a pretty powerful message.
A chapter of the House Rabbit Society is located in Singapore and
you can visit their website at:
Singapore House Rabbit
SocietyClick on the photos to see larger
versions.

April
28, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. - Rabbits Short on Space -Friends of Rabbits, located in
Maryland, D.C., and Northern, VA are in urgent need of fosters! The
Montgomery County Humane Society is overwhelmed right now in their
small animal room. They are overflowing with guinea pigs and
hamsters so the bunnies are being moved to a back room (yikes!). If
you can help, call Lori at
301-725-7505. Or visit the website for more contacts at Friends of
Rabbits That's
Bandit above who is just one of many amazing rabbits available for
adoption with Friends of Rabbits.

Bunnies Past Their
Prime – I have two bunnies one over 9 and the other 8 years old
(see pic) and my sister, Bonnie has two rabbits pushing 10 years
old. Unfortunately, older rabbits are often passed by for
adoption. A story I read about Bongo last week in
the
Wall Street Journal has a good ending for one senior rabbit. It
seems Bongo was in an animal shelter in rural Pennsylvania that
reached rabbit overload and after a fight with another rabbit he
lost a piece of his ear. He ended up at the Animal Friends
shelter in the Pittsburgh area. Then a group called the “Red Collar
Society” stepped in to help. It’s a a society for people who adopt
older pets, which means dogs more than five years old and cats over
six. The article said “rabbits are considered old at three.” The
Red Collar Society appears to be effective since it was formed last
April, more than 300 older cats, dogs and rabbits have been adopted
from the shelter.

An older man
adopted Bongo who he considers to be a rakish rabbit -- "tough,
aggressive and independent, like a one-legged pirate." The
gentleman’s first rabbit passed away and he missed his bunny.

Red Collar members
can attend monthly programs on bonding and estate planning. Bongo’s
new human has arranged for Bongo to be taken care of by Animal
Friends if the rabbit outlives him.

Rabbits
in the Moon: Rabbits
in Asian myths are common particularly in China, Japan and Korea.
The Chinese rabbit moon goddess was mentioned in the conversation
between Houston Capcom and Apollo 11 crew just before the first moon
landing:

Houston: Among the large headlines concerning Apollo this
morning there's one asking that you watch for a lovely girl with a
big rabbit. An ancient legend says a beautiful Chinese girl called
Chang-o has been living there for 4000 years. It seems she was
banished to the moon because she stole the pill for immortality from
her husband. You might also look for her companion, a large Chinese
rabbit, who is easy to spot since he is only standing on his hind
feet in the shade of a cinnamon tree. The name of the rabbit is not
recorded.

Bunny
Lune is a book I happened upon at the bookstore last week.
(Clarion Books) Author Kae Nishimura has written a fanciful book
offering beautiful art and an original story. A big-city
rabbit named Bunny Lune wants more than anything to go to the moon.
His friend Pyonko has told him about the Japanese tradition that
rabbits live there. It's for young children and you can find it
online at major book sellers.

Child’s
Play - Students at a Danville, Indiana Middle School learn
about animal anatomy and behavior, from a language teacher arts who
knows his way around pets. In describing the Dutch bunny visitors
that day, the teacher told a group of middle-schoolers: "They've
been handled a little, but you have to be careful and always support
them.
If they get frightened, they'll kick." It’s all part of an
enrichment activities program during a new "flex" period.
Educators hope activities like these engage kids, motivate them to
do better, enjoy academics more and help them discover new interests
and explore career paths. (We could certainly use more
Rabbit Rescuers or rabbit veterinarians.)

Blogging about Bunnies - After
my own absence from blogging the last couple of weeks (life got way
too busy), I missed my daily rabbit research. Since I started
blogging over two years ago, blogs about bunnies have exploded onto
the scene especially in the last six months. I list over 50
blogs about rabbits on my Jump
to Links web page and I still can't keep up with all the new
rabbit blogs creating lots of bunspace out there. Here are a
few I discovered recently:

The Life and Times of Bunnies
– Gus and Betsy make up all the bunderful fun on this blog. The
video from April 28th is cute, but the April 15th
blog entry “The Destruction of Betsy” is accompanied by a photo that
says it all.

Ruth
over at
The Bunny Gardener
combines two of my favorite activities, gardening and rabbits. I
love the photos of the garden and her entries like the one on April
14th called “How Much Garden Does It Take To Feed Two
Bunnies?!!”

I also enjoy reading
A Houseful of Rabbitswhich
is all about “one
house 2 people and 11 rabbits. I want to know how they find the
time to blog.

April
7, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. - Whimsical Rabbits - who
would have thought rabbits live under “marshmallow trees.” Scroll
down the page at the following link to see
whimsical rabbit paintingsby Kristiana
Parn. And, if you have ever wondered how to make a rug in a bunny
shape, then go to
Bunny Rug on Makezine Blog. Plus, the
handmade craft website, Etsy.com has several leftover bunnies from
Easter like this
Handmade Blue Felt Bunny.

Good Bunny
Book Finds for Kids
- It doesn’t matter what season it is for
Anna Dewdney's Nobunny's Perfect dedicated to Beatrice Potter, "who knew bad bunny behavior when she saw it."
Three young rabbits "mostly do the things they should," but when sad
or mad, they can, in a flash, turn seriously bad. The author seems
to adore the "rude rabbits" as well as ones who are "polite and kind
and true." (This is a lot like bunny fanatics – guilty here.) Along
the same lines is Franny Billingsley’s Big Bad Bunny. It’s
all about
Baby Boo-Boo creating the persona of Big Bad Bunny to get some
respect from her family.
Clare
Turlay Newberry's Marshmallow, is an award winning book from
the 1940's and was recently reissued in a revised edition by
HarperCollins. Oliver, a fat, spoiled tabby cat, and Marshmallow, a
newly arrived baby rabbit who manages to convince the hoity-toity
Oliver that he's really a kitten and well worth adopting. Visit
Barnes and Noble online or your local bookstore to find these
books.

Speaking
of Beatrice Potter, my sister gave me a book for Easter,
Beatrix Potter: A Journal
(thank you Bonnie).
This lavish, illustrated journal describes Beatrix Potter’s life as
a young woman in Victorian England as she struggled to achieve
independence and to find artistic success. Using commentary taken
from Beatrix’s own diaries, the journal features watercolor
paintings, sketches, photographs, letters and period memorabilia to
recreate the world in which she lived.

All
Ears - My lop rabbit, Mr. Bumble, developed an ear
infection a month ago without overt symptoms. He was sneezing
a little which prompted me to take him to the vet. Both Bumble and I
are lucky since this is his first ear infection at the ripe old age
of 9 ½ years. (His lungs were clear). All breeds of lop rabbits are
prone to chronic ear infections. Their ear canals can be very
narrow and deformed. The floppy ears covering the ear canal make a
great environment for bacteria to multiple. Any excess wax debris
gets lodged in the ear and it’s an infection just waiting to
happen. Mr. Bumble’s ear cleaning scheduled has been stepped up to
once a week now that he has recovered from the infection. If you
have a lop breed of rabbit, please check their ears weekly and ask
your vet how to clean their ears. Pictured above is a beautiful
English Lop I found sitting regally in the “Bunny Building” at a
county fair last year.

The
Bunny Rescue of Nashville, Tennesseewas
featured in The Daily Herald newspaper. Laurie Montgomery was
interviewed for the article. “Montgomery said educating owners is
Bunny Rescue's primary goal. "Every time I get a call from an owner
wanting to dump the rabbit here, I try to talk them out of it," she
said. "Most of the problems they have can be solved with a 10-minute
conversation." Bunny Rescue takes in rabbits from across Middle
Tennessee, including the Maury County Animal Shelter, where they're
often taken after being abandoned in outdoors. Visit their website
above to see all the good work they do for rabbits. Visit their
adoptables web page to view photos of all their wonderful rabbits
like Vivian pictured above.

After
Easter Rabbit Care – There have been several articles in
newspapers online since Easter about how to take care of that new
“Easter Bunny.” The Sacramento Bee published a long and detailed
article in their newspaper covering most of the important issues of
proper care from diet to housing. They also gave the House Rabbit Society (www.rabbit.org)
a well deserved compliment when they said it is the best site on the
internet for pet rabbit information. Hopperhome agrees. I refer
people who email me for in depth pet bunny information to the HRS
website all the time. They have a truly comprehensive bunny
“knowledge base" online thanks to their founders and hundreds of
volunteers.

Acts
of Kindness in Scotland - some
very kind people rescued a dumped pet bunny in the UK recently found
in rubbish and trash bins. The rabbit was abandoned in a white and
blue bag with a bag of food. The little rabbit (pictured above on
the right) was taken to Inverclyde Animal Rescue in Scotland near
where it was found. As the animal rescue representative said “She
is only about 14 weeks old and is a lovely wee thing.” Indeed, she
is.

Pipsqueak Rabbit Ancestor – If you
haven’t heard, archeologists discovered the tiny bones of a 53
million-year-old hamster-size bunny ancestor. The ankle bone, top,
and heel bone of the oldest found rabbit relative have features that
resemble modern-day bunnies and allow them to hop. This amazing find
was discovered in a coal mine in Gujarat, in west-central India. It
sounds like this half pound ancient ancestor was a lot like pikas
who are hamster-sized rabbit cousins. But Pikas don’t actually hop
and so he was more rabbit, and quite a hopper. The bones were found
embedded in material deposited in land once covered with swamps and
bays, suggesting the rabbit was a near shore dweller (in other
words, the first beach bunny).

Bunny
Blog will be updated Monday evening, April 7th because of website maintenance due to
technical issues. I do all my own website maintenance and
sometimes the problems multiply like rabbits.

March
26, 2008 - 10:00 p.m. -
Bunnies Survive a Close Call - Two
beautiful
pet rabbits from Auckland, NZ survived a close shave when their
outdoor hutch was set on fire. The family discovered newspaper
ashes and burn marks around their rabbit hutch on the day after
Easter. The rabbits, Bert and Snowy, were unharmed, but Bert’s
whiskers were singed. The family is very upset since it would have
been their 11 year old daughter who would have found her rabbits
destroyed had the hutch actually caught fire. This isn’t the first
time the family say there has been an intrusion. A few months ago
they found the hutch open and Snowy and Bert running around the
yard. Time to make those rabbits house rabbits! (Snowy
pictured above.)

Hopping
to a Different Drummer
– Last week among the articles on the perils of buying a live Easter
rabbit on impulse, the Akron
Beacon Journal did a terrific profile on a house rabbit living with
a couple in their apartment. The Schwietzers adopted Matilda from
the Columbus House Rabbit Society about a year ago. The article
made the point that
rabbits are not cats and dogs and their owners must be properly
equipped and prepared to meet their needs including finding a rabbit
vet, feeding the rabbit properly, and learning rabbit
psychology.

"She's been such a joy in our lives,"
said Susan Schwietzer. "Rabbits do so many different things all the
time. She's our baby. ... Just looking at her cheers me up." The
Schwietzers gave the reporter a tour of their living room: Not an
electric cord in sight.
Matilda is not "spoiled"; she's "indulged," said Ryan Schwietzer.
Once you scratch the surface, rabbit fever goes deep, say the
Schweitzers.

Make
Mine Earl Grey
- I love this photo of “Earl Grey” being tempted with a piece of
lettuce last week at theNortheastern Satellite of the Colorado House Rabbit Society in
Greeley. The Rabbit Resource Center has five rabbits for adoption,
and also has supplies and provides education about rabbits. The Greely
Tribune wrote a nice piece on the chapter and their resource center
manager,
Debby Schmidt. (That is a very intent lagomorph.)

And speaking of lettuce . . .

Lettuce
All Visit
Brooklyn Bunny They sell several imaginative products on their
website with the proceeds benefiting very worthwhile
causes. I had a good laugh over the Brooklyn Bunny
Lettuce Home Perfume Spray. They approached
a Brooklyn-based perfumer,
Christopher Brosius about designing a custom room
spray for their pet project, and he said, "What about
lettuce?" Wow! They did it – you can buy the Lettuce
Room Spray which they describe as a light and sweet
scent as if you were cracking a head of crisp, fresh
lettuce in your hands (supplies are limited). This
water-based room spray can also be worn as perfume! My
two male rabbits are already enamored with me so I doubt
I will go that route. But, I’m thinking it might come
in handy to freshen the room when one of my geriatric
rabbits forgets to eat his cecotrophes!

Biggest
Bunny - I want to know who goes around measuring big rabbits so
once a year they can proclaim someone has the biggest rabbit in the
universe. It's bizarre. Anyway, I digress . . Amy, a
Continental Giant breed rabbit, is 4 ft. long and 3 stone (around 35
lbs.) Her bonded mate is Roberto who previously held the
heavyweight title. Last year their owner had the big bunnies "marry"
in a ceremony probably only enjoyed by humans.

I actually agree with a Continental Giant breeder who said in the
Daily Mail newspaper, "It's a load of rubbish." He and his
wife, Sue, bred 28 lb. Dancer - also once said to be the biggest
rabbit in the world, but Wayne says that anything heavier is not
naturally big, but simply an obese pet. "it's probably just a
big, fat rabbit. If so, it would be cruel. Like
anything, when you're overweight it causes problems," he says.
Another article noted that Amy is fed “two apples, a handful of
carrots, half a cabbage, fresh hay, and a dog-sized dish of rabbit
mix every day. Of course, Amy and Roberto
have been busily breeding at their home in Worcester (UK), and their
owner is confident that one of their 32 offspring will turn out even
larger. It is interesting to note that the
Guinness Book of Records no longer logs amazing animals because
owners were force-feeding their large pets to obesity.

Hopping Mad About Hairless Rabbits -
A professor of animal and wildlife science and director of
the Texas A&M’s Rabbit Research Program, is now breeding furless
rabbits so they can provide “a solid and sustainable food source for
developing nations in warm, tropical climates where other rabbits
would have difficulty surviving.”
Underestimating the capacity of humans to have compassion for
animals under any circumstance, there is another purpose behind the
rabbit’s unnatural appearance according to Professor Lukefahr.
Quoting his statement in the newspaper article: "Many Americans get
all emotional about when it comes to eating cute, cuddly rabbits,"
he said. "They've got a face only a mother could love."
The professor has apparently never met a rabbit lover before. (He
probably has never heard of Sphynx cats who are hairless and adored
by cat lovers or the Mexican Hairless or Chinese Crested dogs.)
Appearance is inconsequential. In my opinion, there are many, many
things fundamentally wrong with the entire program of even breeding
these rabbits.

Japanese Rabbit Cozy - a Bunny Blog reader, Joann, sent this
photo of two rabbits relaxing in their very cute home in Japan.
She made one for her own rabbits in an afternoon on her sewing
machine and reports that her rabbits shredded it in record time.
Joann said she had less mess since she skipped putting shag carpet
under her version. She also wanted to know why Japanese
rabbits are so well-behaved.

March
19, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. Easter Weekend at the Burrow! Kim Scharf
over at the Bunny Bunch SPCR
in Montclair, California asked me to be sure to mention this event.
Anyone thinking about getting a rabbit for Easter and who happens to
live near Montclair in Southern California should hop over this
weekend, March 22nd & 23rd from Noon to 4:00 p.m. They
will be happy to explain proper rabbit care, offer refreshments and
do free nail trims. They will also have free Chocolate Easter
Rabbits while supplies last. Easter is also the debut of "Photos
with Rabbits" – they will set-up a holiday themed booth for rabbits
(chinchillas, guinea pigs, rats, etc.) to have their own photo
shoot. 100% of the $10.00 donation for a photo will help them to
keep rescuing rabbits. Visit their link above for more information!
(Sesame is pictured above - just one of many, many Bunny Bunch
rabbits.

Midwest
Rabbit Rescue and Rehome are
in the www.ZooToo.com competition for a shelter makeover. The
contest ends at the end of this month and they still need help to
stay in the place to win at least a $5000 prize for their rabbits.
Go to Midwest RR&R link above to get information on registering with
ZooToo . They started this in October and have steadily climbed up
the list. It would be great to have a rabbit rescue become a
winner.

Tsai-fi
Dust Bunnies, my sister Bonnie
found these online. They look like very fat, round cuddly plush
rabbits with a lot of personality. The Dust Bunnies come in several
styles and colors. The artist designs her creations from
vector drawings. This one is called "Rosey Posey."

European Rabbit – A doe and her kit enjoy a quiet moment in
the photo below. This photo was emailed from an anonymous rabbit
fan. A wild rabbit who was the precursor to all
the domesticated breeds.

March
18, 2008 - 9:00 p.m. -
Baker
Raises Dough to Save Rabbits
– The Great Harvest Bread Co. located in Shorewood, Il (near Joliet)
offers “honey bunnies” as a healthy whole grain alternative to live
pet rabbits. Matthew Simpson of Great Harvest Bread Co. is
partnering with the Will County Humane Society for Easter. The store
will donate $2 of every honey bunny loaf sold to the humane society.
The bread company averages 500-700 loaves of bunny bread sold during
Easter.
As Simpson said, “The kids can have a bunny, but it won’t be sent to
the humane society afterward.”
For more information on the store go to Great Harvest Bread Company
The bunny loaf is shown above.

A
Rabbit Round-up in Kelowna,
Canada
was a kinder option rather than a cull some people are proposing to
deal with the “rabbit problem.” The Responsible Animal Care Societywas out wrangling feral rabbits this past weekend hoping to save
them from a cull. They managed to capture 25 and those rabbits are
on their way to being neutered or spayed. Several third graders
lobbied a council member to find an alternative to a cull. "They
asked what rabbits had ever done to me and that was it.” As a
result the council agreed to give the rabbit wranglers a chance to
promote a more humane solution of catching and neutering the rabbits
and offering them for adoption.

Kelowna
is not the only Canadian city to be hit by a rabbit population
explosion and controversy over how to rid towns of feral rabbits. In
the suburb of Richmond parks are teeming with rabbits and animal
rescue groups are pleading with residents to leave bunnies in the
pet store this Easter. They say if you go to Minoru Park it is
possible to see a 100 rabbits within a few minutes. That’s because
it is estimated 1,000 feral domesticated rabbits live there. See
one of the rabbit residents pictured on the right. He is certainly
someone’s adorable ex-pet.

Helsinki’s
Long “Hares”
– Urban feral rabbits are becoming a much bigger issue due to a mild
winter in normally cold countries like Finland.
This coming summer
all previous population records are expected to be shattered.
According to estimates there are up to five thousand feral and wild
rabbits living in Helsinki. The rabbits have good taste in music since the
National Opera lawn is their favorite spot.

March
17, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day I located
a media file of an old Irish music box jig called Rabbit in the Field
(sheet
music
for you musicians). Play the file while you visitIrish
Baby Hare CamThe webcam shows a pen of leverets (baby hares) located in a rearing
facility in the Sperrin region of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
The facility is specifically for Irish hares. The orphaned leverets
arrive from all over Ireland to raise, rehabilitate and release.
The Irish Hare Initiative
is an independent not-for-profit group working for the conservation
and protection of Irish hares. (Photo above is a Wendy Walsh Irish Hare Watercolor.
Click on photo to see larger version.)

Make Mine Chocolate! Yes,
you can have a chocolate bunny or give one as a gift this year and
make it Dairy-Free, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free or Food Allergy
Free! Try these chocolate makers online for some guilt-free
nibbling. Okay, they are Not calorie-free.

Pre-Easter Rescues– The first was located in Botetourt County (Virginia) where Animal
Control officers seized dozens of sick rabbits from an 81-year-old
man with a history of animal abuse. The rabbits were mite infected
and if they hadn’t been removed, they could have ended up as Easter
gifts in a flea market. Channel WSLS ran a story Sick Bunnies Find New Home
showing the rabbits in a new and safe environment. The Angels of
Assisi loaded up a van at the SPCA on Thursday and took them to
Harmony Farm nearby. They have their hands full with baby bunnies
and newborn kits and they expect more are on the way. The rabbits
are recovering from the mite infestation and doing much better.
These are 43 rabbits that won’t be ready for Easter! But in a few
weeks they will be tested again and ready for adoption. See the 90
acre Harmony Farm Sanctuary
at the link.

In
another large rescue more than 300 rabbits
were rescued from "deplorable conditions" at a rabbit meat farm in Simcoe
County, Ontario. The local newspaper reported the OSPCA are still
investigating and their shelter was hopping with rabbits. According
to the newspaper, “most of the animals were female and many of them
were already pregnant, even though they were nursing litters.”
The conditions were considered "filthy" and many rabbits were sick. The
good news is that several area shelters joined in the effort and
foster homes were also enlisted to take in rabbits. (Alisa
Sears, manager of the Barrie OSPCA, cuddles one of the 300 rescued
bunnies above.)

Last
year it was Paris
. . . Paris Hilton bought a pair of bunnies for Easter a year ago and this
year it is Miley Cyrus. Several teen gossip websites reported last
Sunday Miley Cyrus spent time with her family in Los Angeles where
she stopped by a pet store after attending church. She bought
a rabbit she named Jack. While I can appreciate her desire to have a
rabbit, her style and behavior is copied by thousands of pre-teen
and teenage girls. I’m hoping this is one time she doesn’t
start a trend especially during the week before Easter.

Shooting with a Camera
– Recently a crew of filmmakers were on
campus shooting rabbits with a high-definition camera. The crew is
filming a documentary for Animal Planet Canada and the Discovery
Channel HD about resourceful domesticated animals running wild in
unlikely places. They hope to make the film into a 12-part series.
According to the recent article in the Times Colonist, the
“documentary was inspired by a trip Erin Skillen took to Pompeii
with her husband in 2005.” She began researching the phenomenon of
domesticated animals living as feral animals and in danger of
elimination by humans who regard them as pests. (The newspaper in
Victoria noted the culling of university rabbits last year as part
of an article on the rabbits.) As a passionate
animal lover, Skillen was unsettled by injured rabbits in the
University of Victoria’s feral rabbit population during filming.

March
12, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. -
Unbunlievable!
- Newspapers in Portland, Maine reported that a local teenager was
charged with stealing a pet bunny and trying to extort money from
the 16 year old bunny owner. The 17 year old broke into the other
teenager’s apartment and stole a gray dwarf rabbit. He then called
the other boy and demanded payment of a $100 or else the rabbit
would be hurt. Fortunately, the local police say the rabbit was
recovered “in good condition.” The thief could take a lesson from
the young man in England I wrote about on Tuesday who cares for 90
animals.

Rabbitats
for Humanity
–
Since rabbits are my “Maine” subject tonight, I wanted to share
the link above for a rabbit sanctuary located on the South Bristol pennisula of mid-coast Maine. is a labor of love founded and
maintained by Quan Myers. A non-profit organization since 2006, it
has become home for more than 100 rabbits. Read some of their
stories here.You can also read how and why Quan startedRabbitats for Humanity.
As is the case with many of us who rescue rabbits, it just takes one
rabbit and Quan’s was Harvey. Best Bunny Wishes to Quan for helping
rabbits!

On
the Wild Side:
The sight of brown hares "boxing" is one of the most arresting
spectacles of the countryside in the fields of lowland Britain. But
the behavior that gave rise to the legend of "mad March hares" is
likely to become a less common sight in the future. Conservationists
believe because of a change in European Union rules about how farms
are managed, the animals may start to decline after a program is
abolished that paid farmers to leave some of their land
uncultivated. The program dates back 20 years and left 8
percent of Britain's arable land as scruffy, weedy sanctuary
benefiting hares and other farmland wildlife. Conservation groups
are urging the government to initiate new programs to help farmers
and wildlife.

Hare
boxing is not two males fighting over a female,
as is often assumed, it is a female repelling
the premature advances of a male.

March 10, 2008 -
8:00 p.m. - It Started with Jessica Rabbit - An
article caught my attention from
the
Leicester Mercury in the UK about a young man who took home
his first abandoned rabbit (Jessica) when he was only ten years old.
Five years later he is caring for
more than 90 unwanted pets at any one time. He spends about six
hours a day at it before and after school. Word got out about James
and people started dropping off their unwanted pets. He now cares
for 29 rabbits, 22 guinea pigs, six cats, six dogs, four cockerels
and eight hamsters. James says that a lot of the animals are from
“unwanted litters.” His parents don’t need to help since he takes
full responsibility for his rabbits and other animals. He earns the
money to care for the animals himself, but it is expensive. His
mother, Helen, said: "He loves his animals. I just wish we hadn't
got so many.”

Rabbits Dig a Manor
House – Speaking of the United Kingdom . . . Jim and Wendy just
got back from a trip there and emailed Hopperhome about some rabbits
who helped dig up the remains of a manor house dated back to the 13th
century. The couple heard the story from locals and decided to
investigate. The house is located near Leamington and the bulldozer
bunnies unearthed a large ornate window about six years ago. It was
a breakthrough for archeologists who had been searching the area for
10 years previously. The dig site was once the location of a moated
manor house torn down in the 15th century. The window
became part of the rabbit warren. The rabbits were discriminating,
though; they kicked out much of the glass from their burrow.

Blog
Find - On your next coffee break, surf over to the Friendly Farms Blog to see stories of
rescue, adoption and fun bunny business as it unfolds at Friendly
Farms. To the left is a photo of a beautiful trio -
Spot, Freddie, and their mom, Sara. They are happy to be rescued
rabbits. It seems Sarah was a pregnant teenager when she was
abandoned outside in the winter of 2000. Fortunately, she found her
way to Friendly Farms, where she had her babies in safety. They are
permanent residents now. Friendly Farms
Is located in the Monterey County, California area. They are a
foster home and sanctuary dedicated to assisting in the placement
and protection of rabbits at risk of euthanasia because of
overcrowding at local animal shelters.

Busy
Bunnies- I
took a few minutes out from shopping to look over the spring books
for kids in the store tonight. One in particular caught my
attention. All of the photos in the book were of real rabbits
demonstrating normal rabbit behavior. No costumes, no funny
backgrounds - just rabbits being rabbits and easy for young children
to understand. Visit the link above at Barnes and Noble.
(Hopperhome doesn't belong to any affiliate programs.) I give
this book two paws up.

Attila
the Bun - Two weeks ago I received an email from Marcella in
Florida who received a “Christmas present” in the form of a cute
little dwarf rabbit. Just a few months later her rabbit took on the
personality of “Attila the Bun” and needed a trip to the vet for
neutering. Marcella was very reluctant to take her rabbit in for
the surgery since she heard “rabbits are fragile” and many do not
survive anesthesia.

Before
there were enough rabbit savvy vets educated in rabbit surgical
techniques, it was a risk. However, I reassured her with the list
of veterinarians I sent her, her bunny would be in good hands.
Plus, I emailed her the following link to a detailed article
by Susan Brown, DVM in her Small Mammal Health Series: Taking
the Fear out of Rabbit Anesthesia.
Yesterday I received another email and her rabbit is now a week out
from his neuter surgery and doing very well. He has started to calm
down and is back to giving her nose kisses. Plus, he may get a
partner soon who will go in for her own spay surgery. Hip Hop
Hurray! (The Attila the Bun print is available from
Will Bullas Studio)

Uptown
Rabbit Gifts - Every year I think it is interesting to see what
extravagant rabbit themed presents are available at the pricier
retailers – like Neiman Marcus, for instance. This year they have
some downright almost affordable offerings like the Neiman-Marcus Bunny Paper Towel Holder,
or
an amazing (and yummy) Bunny Chocolate House for $47.00 with a
one year shelf life and a bewhiskered rabbit poking his head out the
window. A notch up or two in price is a very prettyBasil Bunny Box for around $160.00. It’s
the hand-set multicolor Swarovski® crystals in the dewlap that
probably bump this over the hundred dollar range. One of the more
expensive items is the Buster Bunny Figurine at $595.00. If you
have this much cash to drop, send it to a rabbit rescue instead
please!

Make
Mine an Easter Chocolate Cake – Wow! The folks in Chicago are
lucky because The Bleeding Heart Bakery
has beautiful rabbit cakes available by custom order only. See an
example of one of their cake rabbits pictured on the right. If you
live in the windy city, inquire @ 773.327.6934 - To learn more about
the Make Mine Chocolate!
campaign, please
visit the link.

March 8, 2008 - 3:00 p.m. - San DiegO HRS
Bunnies on YouTube!
- The San Diego HRS has branched out onto YouTube with
fun videos of their adoptable rabbits. I watched them
all and they are bunnerific stars! Check back often -
they add more rabbits everyday! Visit San Diego HRS on You Tube

Crisis
at San Gabriel Valley Humane Society – Eight rabbits were dumped at the shelter
last week with not nearly enough large hutches to keep
them. They are out of space! If they do not get
some rabbits out soon, they will be in grave danger...
contactZooh
Corner Rabbit Rescueand help save some bunny lives.
According to their website, they will spay/neuter the
rabbits and most are great with their litter boxes. If
you can’t take a rabbit into a permanent home, fostering
is an option.

You might
enjoy the experience of fostering
a doe with her kits. That’s Momma Bunny pictured above
(check out those big ears).
She was dumped at the shelter with 6 babies, around 3 to
4 months of age. A few days later, Momma gave birth to
another litter. So they have those adorable babies to
care for, too. The shelter is not able to deal with a
family or a nursing mom. If you can take this family of
bunnies in for a few months, the kits will have a much
better chance at survival. Email: alex@mybunny.org if
you can help.

March 7, 2008 - 10:00 p.m. - Rabbit Education Seminar
- Sweet Binks in Rhode Island
will host a rabbit education seminar on March 22nd
from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the RISPCA. This is a perfect
event for those considering adoption or who have a
rabbit and want to learn about proper rabbit diet,
health, housing, behavior, litter box training and much
more. Event is free but donations gratefully accepted.
For more info see the Sweet Binks link above.

Home
Sweet Bunny Home -Low Country Bunny House Rabbit Society
in
Charleston, SC has instructions to build your rabbit a
roomy new rabbit house that is easily customizable for
different size areas of your home. An example is on the
left and see more at their link: Build a rabbit home.
However if you live in the Charleston area and you’re
not very handy, they can build one for you (charges
vary by size).

Easter Rabbit Media Campaign – Here is a sampling
of just a few of the articles that are being published
around the country (and the world) about the folly of
buying a rabbit on impulse at Easter: (some articles
maybe archived and no longer available depending upon
the newspaper’s policies)

February
28, 2008 - 8:30 p.m. - Million Dollar Mission! - There are a
bunch of rabbit lovers from all over the US trying to win a shelter
makeover for
Midwest Rabbit Rescue & Re-Home by writing
product reviews for a new web site called
Zoo Too. Ray Milkey from
Rabbit Haven in Scotts Valley, CA emailed
me about this effort. The top 20 shelters get to compete for a $1
Million donation for a shelter makeover.

Midwest Rabbit Rescue is the sole rabbits only
shelter competing for the prize. They are ranked number 10 right now
which means they are really in the running for the big prize. But
as Ray said, “the 19 runners up will receive $5,000, which isn't too
shabby either.” I’m going to Zoo Too after I finish the blog tonight
and sign up. If you want to help, you can go to
www.zootoo.com.
If you want more info you can also visit
Midwest Rabbit Rescue & Re-Home

Hops for Hope: If you live near
Ypsilanti, Michigan (30 miles from Detroit and close to Ann Arbor)
join the Midwest Rabbit Rescue for a benefit on Saturday afternoon,
March 22nd at the Corner Brewery. This event features the
www.makeminechocolate.org campaign. There
will be lots of chocolate to try, a beer tasting, and a vegetarian
buffet. Limited advance tickets – so go to MidwestRabbit Rescue & Re-Hometo learn
more about this to benefit the 300+ rabbits they rescue each year.

Wild Bunny Kiss - Erin
from County Mayo in Ireland sent me this photo of South African
native Noeline Haylett who divides her time between work, caring for
injured animals and raising money to help a community in Ghana. She
founded the Mayo Animal Welfare in 1994, and now takes in injured
wildlife from every corner of Ireland. She is pictured here nose to
nose with an recovering wild European rabbit.

Bronze Bunnies - Steve Worthington makes bronze animal sculptures.
He videotaped a wild rabbit lounging on a lawn and made prints of freeze frames to work from. You
can see the entire process in pictures showing how he creates his
bronze sculptures of rabbits at
Steve Worthington Art

Usagi
(rabbit) Habitat - Chizuko from Japan read the blog about pet
rabbits being walked on leashes in Japan. She sent a photo to
share of her rabbit's home in her small apartment near Tokyo.
Click on the photo to see a larger version. The bunny
has free reign of her studio in the evenings. The pen makes my
x-pens look pretty drab and she even has a wood litter box.

February 26, 2008 - Latvian
Lagomorph Passes - Leonardo da Vinci, (Lisis for short) was the
pet rabbit of Latvian President Valdis Zatlers. The "First Bunny"
passed away last week. Several news media picked up the story as
“weird news.” Anyone who has experienced the loss of a beloved
bunny wouldn’t find this “odd news.” I’m sure the Latvian President
and his family will miss their pet of five years. The photo above
shows the President with his rabbit. He felt Lisis may have died
from stress since the bunny did not adjust to the move to Riga
Castle in the capital where he had free run. The Zatlers family
originally thought Lisis was a female and called him Mona Lisa,
before discovering their mistake and renaming him.

is easy to do in 2008! Last
year this time I blogged about all the chocolate alternatives to a
live pet rabbit in the spirit of the Make Mine Chocolate campaign.
This year the same chocolate makers have fabulous offerings, but I’m
adding a new one to the list.

Up in New England there is a gourmet chocolate company, L.A. Burdick’s Chocolate
that makes a spring time egg hunt (see pic above) with chocolate
bunnies. It can be used as a centerpiece and then dig in
afterwards.

Bunny
Girl - a young woman has garnered a following while walking her
bunnies on her college campus according to the Daily Texan. They
call her “Bunny Girl” or “Rabbit Girl.” Her rabbits, Eris and Darle,
let her know they want to go for their walk by running circles
around her in her apartment. There's even a FaceBook group dedicated
to sightings of her. As a freshman, she originally walked her
bunnies as a source of comfort on the large campus. She explains
that she now walks the bunnies for others, for the joy that it
brings them.

In
Japan this isn’t so unusual since many bunny lovers routinely put
their bunnies on a harness completely decked out in a “costume” for
walks. The following link is in Japanese, but it shows several
rabbits in their fancy harness attire on walks. Usagi
in Japan
The little lop on the right looks like he wants to say
“get me off this leash and just let me go dig a hole wearing my own
fur coat.” Well, the rabbits do look pampered even if I prefer them
in their natural state.

Foster Rabbit On the
Early Show (CBS) they featured a story on “Foster Parents for
Pets” and how it is catching on. A foster family for animals in
Burr Ridge, Illinois was profiled with their foster pets including
three dogs, two horses, two cats and a momma rabbit and her baby.
See picture above of one of the rabbits. It seems fostering animals
has seen a surge since Hurricane Katrina when many Americans took in
pets of homeless victims. The trend isn’t fading.

Saving Abandoned
Rabbits in Michigan - Two women in Michigan have braved cold
temperatures to walk along roads looking for rabbit tracks. They
weren't hunting. They are searching for signs of rabbits that had
been left along the road. Several rabbits were spotted wandering
along the side of the road recently. Two males, both Jersey
Woolies, were saved and one was a baby only four weeks old. Another
was found the next morning with obvious signs it had been attacked
by a predator. It didn’t survive. The rabbits had
identification markings on their ears associated with show rabbits.
Cascades Humane Society stopped accepting rabbits about a year ago.

Bunny Blog will be
updated on Tuesday night, February 26th. A white bunny (who
shall remain nameless since he's so embarrassed) made a rather large
mess this evening involving several primrose plants that were
waiting by the backdoor to be planted. The rabbit wasn't white
anymore and neither was a large section of the carpet which put the Bunny Blog off
schedule.

This year their raffle
painting is "Across the Universe," from artist, Joseph Larkin, and
is pictured above. You can purchase
raffle tickets for this stunning 8” x 18”
painting at the link. Be sure to visit their Cafe Press
store; and check out the “Make Mine
Chocolate! ™”
pins.

Dutch
Bunnies - I recently discovered a new type of Dutch Bunny and
it’s not a new breed. Tiny
Dodo
is a Dutch online store that sells well-designed products primarily
for children. For instance, the Dorst Ontwerp Hanging Rabbit.
I’m not sure what to do with them, but they are kind of cute and
they can hang from tables, crib side, etc. (maybe, even from the
side of a bunny condo). Tiny Dodo also carries other handcrafted
Dutch products in rabbit designs like their very functional knitted
Tea Cozy and Egg Cozy.
If you visit the website, be sure to click on US currency on the
left side of the page since prices are displayed in Euros.

Politics & Rabbits - In
Curry County Oregon District Attorney Everett Dial is running for
re-election to the non partisan position. He is also a rabbit fan.
Two thirds into an article about Dial in the Curry Coastal Pilot,
the discussion turned away from crime and law in Curry County.
Instead, Dial discussed life with his house rabbit.

Dial and his wife live with their
pet rabbit, Nigel, a large black and white French Lop. According to
Dial, "He follows us around the house and gets rather bossy
sometimes. He won't let us put anything on his chair." It seems
Nigel has his own chair and ottoman, in different rooms. "He's
somewhat petulant," Dial said. "He's not allowed in the room with
the washing machine and dryer. He'll get in when he can, then bang
his foot on the dryer to let us know he got in."

February 19,
2008 - 9:00 p.m. - "I
never met a pet I didn't like," artist Andy Warhol once wrote.
Portraits of a rabbit, a cat and a dog from Animal Friends (located in Ohio Township
close to Pittsburgh) were painted in Warhol style for The
Warhol Museum's "Canis Major" exhibition. The dog and the cat have
been adopted. And, I’m hoping, Evelyn, the rabbit (pictured on the
left) will get her 15 minutes of fame (something Warhol predicted)
and find a home, too. Anyone interested in adopting a pet from
Animal Friends can call 412-847-7002 or visit their website at the
link above. Warhol loved animals and this Inspired the "Canis Major" exhibition featuring
photographs, paintings, screen prints, drawings and videos of
animals, including his own pets.

Bowling for Bunnies – If you live near Plymouth, Michigan, you
can have fun and support the Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary Saturday,
February 23rd – advance ticket sales only and go to
the link above or call email tim@rabbitsanctuary.org
for more information.

Cards
for Bunny Lovers - Those creative people up north have created
some bunderful cards and postcards to support their rescue efforts
with SARS BC
(Small Animal Rescue Society, BC)
The photos depict rescued rabbits and several other types of small
animals in natural poses. Their rescue stories are printed on the
back of the cards which makes them more personal. As much as I love
the rabbits, there was a chinchilla named Maggie who caught my
attention and a teddy bear hamster called Jean Grey who qualifies
for cute overload, too. (Pictured: “To My Hunny Bunny” card) Go see
them all for yourself at SARS BC
Cards

February
18, 2008 - 3:30 p.m. - - The House Rabbit Society
certainly has something to celebrate in 2008 - their 20th
Anniversary.
Started in1988
by Marinell and Bob Harriman and a few other rabbit fans, the House
Rabbit Society has grown from a small group of San Francisco Bay
Area volunteers to a network of thousands of members and hundreds of
volunteers across the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, and
Asia. With this amazing network of dedicated volunteers, the HRS
has compiled the most comprehensive website on rabbits on the
internet, published a highly regarded journal, educated thousands of
people over the last twenty years, and most importantly rescued
20,000 rabbits over the years. To see where and when House Rabbit
Society chapters will be holding special events around the country
in 2008 visit their website at www.rabbit.org.
Also, they have
Commemorative items
available for sale at CafePress.

Bunnies
Mean Business for MS Office 2007 – Bunny Lover, comedienne,
writer and actress Amy Sedaris created a short spot for the Office
Online promotional campaign. It’s called Rabbit Rescue and features
Amy plus her bunny Dusty (shown on right) and friends. See
Video Here on YouTube

In Microsoft’s Q&A with Amy she says this about her
fluffy co-stars:

Office
Online:
OK, first off: how do bunnies compare with your other co-stars of
the past?

Amy
Sedaris:
I've worked with a lot of actors with bigger teeth, larger ears,
and bushier white tails.

February
17, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. -I like the theme the Humane
Society of the United States chose to publicize the 14th
Annual Spay Day USA this February 26th. They say “It’s
not just rabbits who multiply like rabbits!” That’s certainly true,
and I’m all for neutering and spaying cats, dogs AND rabbits! There
are several events and activities take place throughout this month.
To learn more and How to Participate in Spay Day USA 2008
click on the link -
Spay Day USA 2008

It’s
Open House to Find "Somebunny To Love"
- Leesburg Today reported
that The Loudoun County Department of Animal Care and Control has
teamed up with RabbitWise, for Adopt-a-Rescued-Rabbit Month. During
the month of February, all rabbit adopters will receive free spay or
neuter services for their new pet, a free "Bunny Fun Pack," which
includes toys and treats and a complimentary personal consultation
with a RabbitWise expert who will answer any rabbit-related
questions.

If you live near
Waterford, VA (Leesburg area) be sure to stop by the shelter for the
"Somebunny To Love" open house on Saturday, February 23rd
from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. RabbitWise representatives will show
rabbits available for adoption and answer questions about their
care. Visitors will also learn how to build a low-cost rabbit
habitat. For more information and pictures of available rabbits go
to: www.loudoun.gov/animals.
To learn more about RabbitWise, visit www.rabbitwise.org

Think
twice about live bunnies -
Cristina Popa wrote in the Summerville Charlotte Observer about the
upcoming Easter season when kids start demanding bunnies and most
often the live type. She gave a realistic picture of what it takes
to take care of “Mr. Bunny.” Easter is coming up soon this year –
March 23rd. There will more on that in the Bunny Blog in
the coming days. By the way, the photo is of “Taffy,” a rabbit
rescued from outside Atlanta. She is waiting inside the Citadel
Mall while a rabbit condo is constructed for an adoption event.

Toothy Problem in UK - According to
UK Pets online The Wildlife
Information Network, (WIN)
expressed alarm, at the start of National Rabbit Week
(held in late January) at
the extent of dental disorders found in captive rabbits compared to
that of wild rabbits in whom dental disease is rare. Win’s Senior
Veterinary Editor, WIN, said “"We find it alarming that the syndrome
of acquired dental disease is rare in the wild rabbit, yet is one of
the most common presenting disorders that vets see in pet rabbits
and will often require lifelong treatment. Although, there are a few
factors that can contribute to the development of this disease, poor
nutrition is the most significant and is easily preventable. As a
result of this finding, WIN is going to add a specific chapter about
dental disorders in domestic rabbit to its forthcoming volume:
"Lagomorphs: Health and Management" due to be published mid-2008.

A Big Thump to Rabbit Dumpers
- I read in Gary Bogue's column (Contra Costa Times) that
someone is dumping rabbits on the side of the road. Apparently,
someone called the Pleasant Hill 4-H Rabbit Project about 10 rabbits
from babies to adults who were being left to fend for themselves.
They managed to find homes for some of them and are fostering
others. But it happened again and they are unable to help. The
Walnut Creek Parks Department rangers are trying to round them up.

In Gary’s response he asked the writer to call him at the newspaper
so he can help them come up with a solution for the rabbits. That
is going above and beyond what most columnists would do. But then
Gary has been a daily
newspaper columnist on pets, wildlife and environmental issues for
Contra Costa Newspapers in Walnut Creek, CA, since January, 1970 and
he understands the issues regarding dumping any type of domesticated
pet. Like
Gary said in his column “If the person who is dumping those bunnies
out there reads this, please check with rabbit organizations such as
the House Rabbit Society in Richmond (www.rabbit.org)
for advice on
rabbit care, or for help in finding homes for your rabbits.”

Earth, Wind
and Fire - These are just a few incidents of human saving their
pet rabbits over the last few weeks while the bunny blog was on
vacation:

Tornados have ripped through several areas of the country in
the past couple of months including Arlington, TN. A family of ten
weathered the storm with their pet rabbit in a downstairs five by
five bathroom. While the tornado tore bricks of the structure and
imploded an entire wall upstairs the cramped family and their rabbit
survived without a scratch.

Firefighters
save rabbit Maisey.
The nine year old pet rabbit was trapped in an underground tunnel
five feet deep in the British garden. Maisey’s owners tried for two
hours to dig Maisey out before they called the fire service for
help. It took an additional hour and a half while firefighters
carefully dug out the rabbit that was trapped in tree roots. The
couple who own Maisey were very grateful to the firemen and were
sure their beloved pet would have died otherwise. "I know people
might say it's just a rabbit but she's a member of the family."
Maisey is a senior rabbit and normally doesn’t go down holes.
She is pictured above - safe and sound after her ordeal. So
much for plans for a warren in the backyard.

A bad house fire near
Bellingham, WA forced two teenage girls to escape smoke and flames
at their home recently. The girls saved their pet rabbit and were
upset they couldn’t save the cats and dogs still inside. But they
had to leave the first floor since they would have been overcome by
smoke. They went to the second floor and jumped from a second story
porch roof. This is a good reminder to have a “pet fire escape
plan” in place at your home. I have carriers in a closet near the
front door already to go. But, I also have a “Plan B” ready if I
can’t get to the front door. Unfortunately, not all plans work and
like these brave girls, the best thing is to get up and go.

February 14th - 10:30 P.M. -
Unpacking rabbits from the vacation - will be back bunny
blogging this weekend - sorry for the delay folks - the bunnies and
I are hoppy to be back.

January
16, 2008 - Highway
Mirage of Fluffy Rabbits – The Associated Press reported from
Ivins, UT that “they appeared in the desert as if part of a cuddly
mirage." No one is sure where they came from, but sometime Sunday,
17 lop-eared Angora rabbits (obviously not an indigenous) hopped
onto Utah Highway 91. Fortunately, local officers took action to
save them from a tragic accident on the road and rounded them up.
The local animal shelter representative said "They're just a mess.
They have been neglected." Their fur was matted with dirt and feces
and many of them had injuries to their ears. Since the shelter
didn't have the resources to house 17 rabbits, they started making
calls. By Tuesday, three rabbits had been adopted and four were in
foster care. Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, UT took the
remaining 10 rabbits. (If I get photos of the rabbits I will post -
above is an American Fuzzy Lop.)

Puppy Training Pads
- Roger from Texas emailed me to say he has been using several
different brands of “puppy training pads” to keep his rabbits from
having “accidents” on his carpets. He has a litter box for his two
rabbits, but they still find other corners to use as additional
bathrooms in his apartment. A friend with a dog told him about the
puppy training pads. He gave it a try and it worked for his
rabbits. I may investigate this even though my rabbits are very
good at using their litter box. Puppy Training Pads are sold under
many brand names such as Piddle Pads, Way to Go, WeeWee Pads, etc.
at pet supply stores. Drop me an email if you try them.

January
15, 2008 - President
Pinkerton Bunny - Thanks to Diane
from
Fuzzy Termites,
I was alerted to a new candidate for President. Mr. Pinkerton, a New
Zealand White rabbit with pink eyes will make a run for President in
2008. Pinkerton certainly looks like he could lead the herd of
current candidates. His campaign website says he has “innovative and
effective solutions to longstanding problems, such as global warming
. . .” Since his little lagomorphs cousins, American Pikasmaybe one
of the first mammals in North America known to fall victim to global
warming, Mr. Pinkerton will have his paws full if he is elected.
Read about this bunderful campaign:Mr. Pinkerton at Save A Bunny

Scientists
Unveil Super Carrot - The BBC reported
that a new genetically-engineered carrot could ward off osteoporosis
in humans since it will provide extra calcium. As a rabbit fanatic, I
don’t want to worry about too much calcium in the small bits of
carrot I give my rabbits as an occasional treat. Calcium can cause
kidney and bladder problems in rabbits. But human bones need it and
a human will absorb 41% more calcium if they eat the new fangled
carrot. However, the calcium-charged vegetable still needs to go
through many safety trials. So it will be awhile before the new
carrots will be in the local Safeway, and I have to take them off my
rabbits’ dessert menu.

Adopt A Rescued
Rabbit Month – The
House
Rabbit Society promotes Adopt A Rescued Rabbit Month in
February. The effort promotes adoption and educating potential
adopters to help prevent impulse purchases of rabbits especially a
couple of months later at Easter. The promotion not only
demonstrates the dedication of HRS volunteers who work many extra
hours in February, but independent rescue groups who also support
the campaign.

This year the
Elmbrook Humane Society in Brookfield, Wisconsin is getting a hop
ahead of things. For Adopt-a-Rescued-Rabbit Month in February, "Rabbitopia"
will be held at the society on February 2nd. Bunny care classes,
free nail trims for rabbits and shopping for bunny gifts are just
some of the activities. For more info, check out the Elmbrook Humane Society
website.

Art
Without Rabbits – A large arts and crafts store chain has agreed
to stop selling rabbit fur pelts and have further adopted a no-fur
policy in response to a request from PETA. In appreciation PETA
sent a vegan chocolate bunny and a thank-you note are to A.C.
Moore’s CEO Rick Lepley. A.C. Moore joins a growing list of
retailers that refuse to sell fur, including Polo Ralph Lauren,
Calvin Klein, Forever 21, Wet Seal, Abercrombie & Fitch, Target, and
Banana Republic. By the way, if you want to buy vegan chocolate
bunnies for next Easter go to
Chocolate Decadence

January
7, 2008, 10:00 p.m. -Rounding Up Rabbits - The House Rabbit Network rounded up two
big white bunnies the other night in a neighborhood of Plymouth, MA
The volunteers were able to easily capture the bunnies. The rabbits
were part of a group that was spotted in the neighborhood on Dec.
26th as reported by the Patriot Ledger newspaper.

According
to the president of the HRN, they have been here before. She thinks
someone is “illegally releasing litters every few months when they
can no longer handle a large number of rabbits.” They have captured
30 domesticated rabbits since March. If you live in the
Massachusetts, visit theHouse Rabbit Network
website and learn how to adopt a rescued animal. By the way, they
have their beautiful 2008 Calendar Available in their website store.

Bunny
Walking In Winter Wool Scarf
- Ifoundthissupersoftscarfwhilesurfingtheweb-This original scarf is
handmade in Melbourne. No two are alike. Felt details are cut by
hand, which are then hand- and machine-stitched.
It is "itchiness-proof." Not a real rabbit, (it's wool) but warm and
cozy. Click on picture to see the scarf details.

Bunny Smiles - for National Rabbit Week in the UK January 21
– 27, 2008– it will focus on dental health, and the painful problems
caused by incorrect feeding. Pet owners in Wales can take their
rabbits for a free dental check-up with local vets in Wrexham.
According
to dentistry.co.uk, three out of four rabbits seen by vets are
diagnosed with dental problems.
During the health check, rabbit-owners will also be given advice on
how to avoid the inevitable dental problems. Pippa (on the left) is
from the
South Wales Animal Rescue

January
2, 2008, 9:30 p.m. - Bunny Surrogate Moms - A couple of
months ago I received an email from a woman in Eastern
Washington State asking if female rabbits will foster
another doe’s kits. It seems Joann had a surprise
litter of two from her recent pet bunny purchase.
Unfortunately, the female rabbit, Gracie, passed away
within days of giving birth, and Joann was left trying
to hand raise the kits. She wanted to find a
foster rabbit mom if possible. I referred Joann to a
very informative article on the House Rabbit Society
website calledDomestic
Baby Bunnies and Their Mom by Sandi Koi.
I also told her to start calling anyone who might have
rabbits. As a result, Joann found a doe that had
recently lost her litter. She bought the doe
outright, took her home and it was a success. The kits
were weaned a week ago and the doe has an appointment
for spay surgery. The two bunnies will also be spayed as
soon as they are ready. It’s a good ending for
both the unexpected litter of two females and the
surrogate mom rabbit. All are going to stay with
Joann permanently.

I recently read another
story on theRabbit Haven (Scotts Valley, CA)
website about Lyra, Lute and Kazoo.
The doe (Lyra) is caring for her own fuzzy lop kits and one tiny
brown kit (domesticated rabbit in an agouti color) who came into her
care at 14 days old (see photo above). Click on link to read their
story.

"Even My Hare Hurts" - I heard this phrase after New
Year's Eve and it brought to mind Will Bullas' irreverent
watercolor. Prints are available at his website: Will Bullas Store

January
1, 2008, 2:30 p.m. - Hoppy New Year for Abandoned Rabbit -
from the Working Mail & News in Surrey, England, a pet rabbit
abandoned on Christmas Day has a new home after being found by two
kind young men in their yard. The rabbit was hopping around in the
garden and there was a note stuffed in the gate that said, “
‘I’m not wanted any more, please look after me.” A sister of one of
the men who was visiting her family for
Christmas from Cheshire decided to take the rabbit home. The rabbit’s new name is
Alice and it seems she has found her wonderland.

Odd
Law: In a recent newspaper column that listed weird laws in
different states, I came across this: In North Carolina, it is
against the law for a rabbit to race down the street. Perhaps they
should scrap that one and make it illegal to abandon a rabbit
instead.

Rabbit
Cut Up - In the "I've gotta have one category," I came across
these "hare"larious scissors while shopping online this week: Rabbit
Scissors

Click on the picture to see a larger version and visit the link
above if you want to get a pair.

December
30, 2007, 6:30 p.m. Bunny Biting Art -
Rabbit Dental Poster You may not want to
decorate your living room with this poster, but your vet might like
it for reception area art or as a teaching aid in an exam room for
rabbits. The poster shows a normal rabbit skull, teeth, radiography,
anatomy and endoscopy. It is full color and adapted from the Rabbit
and Rodent Dental Handbook by
Vittorio Capello, DVM & Margherita Gracis, DVM, Dipl EVDC and AVDC.
It sells for $14.95 at the link above. Click on the poster to
see a larger version.

Rabbit
Baled Out by Hay - Another solo bunny rescue comes out of
Centralia, WA from the flooding earlier this month. Several dairy
farms in the area flooded with heavy looses of cows and other farm
animals. When the floodwaters kept rising, some farmers joined their
cows on the higher ground of the another family farm. They knew from
the 1996 flood that this was a refuge. But this time everything
flooded. One small furry survivor stayed behind on this farm. It was
a rabbit that was found earlier on a hay bale along the banks of the
rising river. Someone had carefully placed the hay bale inside the
barn and that is where he was found . . . sitting on his
dinner (the bale of hay) and he certainly had plenty of water to
drink. The owners of the farm nicknamed the rabbit Lucky.

Bunny "Dude" - Alise from San Francisco
sent in this pic of a "rabbit" in Stern Grove. I did a little
research and found out it is a bronze created by Gerald Heffernon
and it is called a “rabbinoid” sculpture. It was created in
human-scale with a human body and a rabbit head. The sculpture leans
against a boulder and talks on a cell phone. I will add this
to my little gallery of rabbit sculptures.

Apple Bunnies Making
food into decorative shapes is a favorite children’s bento lunch
technique in Japan where it is an art form. See the link
above on how to make a apple rabbit.

December
27, 2007, 4:00 p.m. - Moving Experience – TheSeattle House Rabbit Society
is moving their adoption center to Rabbit Meadows Sanctuary by the
end of the year. You can check out theirmoving
page for the latest news and continued updates as their move
progresses. If you live in the Seattle area they still need
volunteers for at both the shelter and sanctuary (soon to be one and
the same). You can make a difference in somebunnies lives. By the
way, that is Tess pictured above who came to the shelter and shortly
thereafter had a litter. All of the cute babies are adopted out and
Tess is still waiting. They say she is a friendly and loving
rabbit.

On
the Wild Side: In January 2008 issue of National
Geographic they featured the endangered Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit.
The one page story explains the challenges with reintroducing this
smallest of rabbits back into the wild. The best part of the
article is an actual life size photo of Ivan as an example of their
small size. He fits on the magazine page! Ivan makes my sister
Bonnie's dwarf Hotot and Netherland Dwarf rabbits look large.
You can see Ivan in the magazine which is on sale now at retailers.

December
26, 2007, 9:30 p.m. -

Hop on the Bus – a large rabbit (looks
like a French lop perhaps?) was abandoned on a bus in Britain over
the weekend. Marble (pictured on the right) is waiting for someone to think he is just the ticket
and give him a new home. For now he is safe at the RSPCA's Bawtry
Animal Sanctuary. The animal care manager at the RSPCA says “It
is hitting us hard already . . . we’ve got animals everywhere. I
wouldn’t advise anyone to give a pet as a gift at Christmas as a lot
of the time they are unwanted. The giant rabbit was found on a bus
by a conductor who contacted the RSPCA to say someone had left it.
The RSPCA can be contacted in Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire if
they would like a large pet rabbit. Marble looks like a real cuddle
bun.

Post Christmas Shopping Alert – Skip the faux fur-trimmed
clothing because some of it is Not fake. Following up on last
winter’s HSUS investigation that uncovered a faux fur scandal in the
apparel and retail industry, the deception continues this year. The
Fur Products Labeling Act currently requires the labeling of fur
apparel only if the garment contains more than $150 worth of fur.”
Because of the loophole consumers don’t know they are buying real
fur. And, unfortunately after testing they found rabbit fur among
others. That's enough to make a bunny lover hopping mad!

Bunny
Fun on Flickr:

Amy
Sedaris’ Rabbit
Dusty on Flickr Amy Sedaris is an actress, comedian, author
and playwright. She lives in Greenwich Village with her mini rex
rabbit Dusty and is involved with the New York House Rabbit Society.
A friend took several pics of Dusty and shares them on her Flickr
page. What a great bunny face!

Also, see
Bungee & Pounder two beautiful lops photographed in all their
activities like digging holes, washing their bunny faces and being
adorable. There is a handsome dog in the mix, too.

Finally, there are
Two
Dutch Rabbits to see at Flickr. Lisa, from Cambridge, England is
a computer games producer, and talented photographer. She has
photos of two beautiful Dutch bunnies on her Flickr page.

December 19, 2007 - PetSmart Will Stop
Selling Rabbits -

Hoppy Holidays - Great News for Rabbit
Rescuers & Fans - I just heard that
Petsmart has decided to cease their "test of rabbit sales" when all
the rabbits in the stores are sold. It's amazing what rabbit news
can get to me even when I'm on my bunvacation this month.
Now I need to put down the Christmas cards I'm writing and write my
thanks to PetSmart for this decision and here's where to write.

And, after New Year's let's all make a
resolution to redouble our efforts to Stop Petco from selling
rabbits.

Hopperhome's Bunny Blog will be back on after December 27, 2007. Have a Great Holiday!

December
7, 2007 - 8:45 p.m. - Flood of Help for Rabbits - Thanks to a
woman’s quick thinking in Washington State, eighteen domesticated
rabbits were rescued from flood waters and put in her backyard. But
a wall of water came and the rabbits were quickly loaded into the
back of a pick-up, but there wasn’t anywhere to keep them safe.
After coordination with Lewis County,
Pasado's Safe Havenjoined the rabbit rescue of those eighteen
lops and other breeds. Pasado volunteers picked up the bunnies (see
photo above) and took them to a temporary homes where they will
remain until their home is habitable again. Many other animals and
pets are the focus of rescue efforts in the last few days as flood
waters recede. See Pasado's link above for information on donations
to help.

December
6, 2007 - 9:45 p.m. - Preschoolers are visiting Bunnytown –
It’s a Saturday morning Disney show for young kids that revolves
around a town of brightly colored rabbit puppets. There is lots of
music from disco to country to hip hop. The sly rabbits in Bunnytown
can spy on the human inhabitants of
Peopletown. There is a series of
tunnels for observing those wacky humans. It’s fast, musical and
showcases a variety of silly jokes. The musical numbers occasionally
feature original lyrics and are played by the Bunny Band. So “Get
off your chair and mess up your hare!”

Rabbit Feet & Sore Hocks - Today, I received an email from a
first-time bunny mom who said her rabbit developed sores hocks in
the last couple of months. She took her bunny, Mr. Wiggles, to the
vet and was upset he developed pododermatitis since
he has a clean/dry home and no wire flooring. While damp,
unsanitary conditions and a wire bottom cage can certainly cause
“sore hocks,” There can be other factors such as:

~
Long nails that put too much weight on the back of the foot

~
Some breeds have less fur on the foot to protect the skin

~
Obesity - it puts pressure on the feet

~
Abrasive flooring and even some carpets

~
Large breeds seem to be more susceptible to this condition

~
Sedentary rabbits

My rabbit, Rosemary, never developed sore
hocks even though she was very thinly furred on the bottom of her
feet. I helped her stay healthy with lots of pedicures especially in
her old age.

December
5, 2007, 9:30 p.m. - Smile the Holidays are Coming! - I
couldn't resist sharing this photo of Eva from the Cute Little Animals Set. Visit
the link for more photos of Eva by a talented photographer and art
director Laura McCaskill on her Flicker.com web page. With all the rabbits pics I
have taken, a smile is really tough to capture - it's those receding
chins.

Hopperhome’s 2007 Online Bunny Gift Surfing
– I did a little online window shopping for holiday rabbit gifts for
both people and bunnies, By the way, Hopperhome doesn’t accept
advertising so these are just for fun!) Hoppy Holidays!

Take
Thyme
and check out the third Vancouver Rabbit Rescue & AdvocacyRescue
Calendar. The calendar features rescued rabbits and their stories.
It is a desk calendar in a CD case. (Pictured on the right.) Each
month features a different rabbit with their story on the back of
the card.
Go to the link above to order.

Bunny Stocking -
Bunny
Bytes,Outfitters of the Urban Rabbit is stocked up
with special stockings for your rabbit. They are filled with a
variety of toys and healthy treats for bunnies. There are several
styles available. Go to the link above to see them.
Bunny Bytes pictures the goodies in each stocking so you know what
each one contains. They are original and very pretty!

BunnyLuv’s
Critter Castle is a safe
activity center for active, chew happy lagomorphs. The Critter
Castle will accommodate all rabbits and will hold over 100 pounds
when assembled correctly. The original design was created with the
help of BunnyLuv's foster rabbits especially for house rabbits.

Snow
Bunny from Busy Bunny This year they have a snowman for your bunny!
The folks at Busy Bunny have created a willow snowman which is all natural & chewable.
It can be used as a decoration, but I suspect your rabbit find it
tasty and tons of fun.

Cats and Rabbits and More
has a special holiday special! from November 15th
through December 31st they will be making a 25% donation
off the retail price of all sales from their website to the National House Rabbit Society.
Take
a look at all their rabbit products at the link above.

Funny
Bunny Toy CoCreates
natural wood toys for rabbits including a reindeer toss toy. My
rabbit, Mr. Hops loves to throw everything around except his friend
Bumble Bunny. This might be under the tree for Hops this year
and no worries - the wood is safe for chewing.

Speaking
of Rabbit Tossing – Hops also tries to toss his
litter box from time to time, but RabbitCentral.com
has just the right litter box to lock on the side of a cage or pen.
A practical gift!

By the way, the picture shows clay litter -
never use clay litters for rabbits. Hay, pelleted recycled
newspaper or pelleted straw litters are safe.

Home
for the HolidaysThe Rabbit Stop carries the Ware Rabbit Den
for a cage free alternative. This would be perfect for a small
rabbit or maybe a pair of dwarf rabbits with good litter habits.

For A Bunny Holiday Brunch -
Botanical Hay from OxbowHay.com
After testing this product this summer, my rabbits can recommend
this enticing blend of
Western Timothy Hay and a rich array of three fragrant herbs. It is
an appetizing, long-strand fiber brunch for your bunnies.

Sam Elliott has Hare - Quote of the Week (a long quote): In
the new movie The Golden Compass, actor Sam Elliott, has a jack
rabbit named Hester as his spirit sidekick. An interview with the
actor included a section on jack rabbits at movie.com:

“A
lot of people have been kinda looking down their nose at the rabbits
of the world. Hester’s a jackrabbit. Initially I thought maybe a
horse, but that would’ve been kind of [tough] having a horse in a
gondola, a flying ship, but maybe a little more macho kind of an
animal or something. I didn’t think that way very long because it
occurred to me because of where my family heritage is which is in
Texas. . . I used to go there as a kid a lot to see relatives and
every time I went there, there were all these billboards or
signboards in those days up and down the highways and in the shadow
of every billboard there were hundreds of jackrabbits.
I mean like this [demonstrates] no elbow room, just fields of ears.
So it occurred to me that a jackrabbit is kind of an iconic
character in Texas and it made total sense that Hester would be a
jackrabbit."

Also, the
official movie website included a twenty question test to determine
what your “daemon” (animal spirit) would be. So I took the test and
should have known it was going to be a Hare!

November 27, 2007, 8:30 p.m.
- Congratulations to Amy and Scot, owners and founders of www.leithpetwerks.com for two big events in their lives. First of all,
they deserve a pat on the back for their recent “adventure in moving.”
They moved the entire company (and household) from Indiana to Salem,
Oregon cross country in trucks! I’m a native Oregonian and I certainly understand why they
chose to settle in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Secondly, on
November 22, 2007, Petwerks officially turned ten years old!
Scot and Amy have been creating wonderful homes for rabbits in more
ways than one for ten years – they are very active in rabbit rescue
(Indiana
House Rabbit Society Chapter and
more recently the Oregon Humane Society Rabbit
Advocates)
-- plus, they make terrific bunny abode condos and apartments.
That's my rabbits Rosemary and Bumble a few years ago in their first
condo above. By the way, the door was normally
open, but they enjoyed the top level for lounging and I closed it
for the photo op.

Artfully
Stitched Rabbit Tutorial - Betz White has been stitching felted
wool into amazing creations for quite sometime. Now she shares
one of her rabbit designs on her blog for anyone who wants to try
out this woolly bunny. Go to Cashmere Bunny Tutorial on Betz White's Blog

November 26, 2007, 9:45 p.m. -
Bunny Huggers Wanted! The Bunny Barn renovations at the
Great Lakes Rabbit
Sanctuary were completed recently and they report the rabbits
are very happy in their newly updated, warmly insulated, cheerfully
bright Bunny Barn. They had a lot of help to get this big barn
finished and now the bunnies need one more thing - hugs! As
the GLRS acknowledges (and most rescuers have experienced) when
rabbits come to into a rescue facility they are normally very
frightened. The GLRS is in need of volunteers to help these rabbits
regain their social skills. Volunteers help by holding these
rabbits, grooming them, or just by talking to them softly. It is a
very rewarding! If you are interested in helping socialize rabbits
please contact karen@rabbitsanctuary.org If you aren't located in Michigan find
a local rabbit rescue and hug a rabbit today!

November
25, 2007, 9:30 p.m. - Rabbit Adopts Kittens – or was it
the other way around? This week several newspapers reported on a
rabbit in Aberdeen, Scotland who has become a mom substitute for six
abandoned kittens. A veterinary technician took the three week old
kittens to her home where the rabbit, Summer, normally lives
outside. But the rabbit was inside due to “Bonfire Night” so she
wouldn’t be frightened by the fireworks.

Apparently, the kittens
climbed all over the five-month old rabbit and tried to nurse.
Summer wasn’t bothered by all the attention and just let the kittens
cozy up to her (see above). According to their human foster mom,
“now they follow her [the rabbit] everywhere. They can't bear to be
without her. They're all so lovely together.” The four male and two
female kittens are doing well and a local cat welfare agency has
plans to rehome them. See video of rabbit and her kittens:

"Owners Swear By Their
Hares" - the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi has a column
called “Humane Helper” that is written by Christine Harris of the
Humane Society of South Mississippi in conjunction with ASPCA. This
past week the column touted rabbits as pets. As the article said,
"in the U.S., rabbits have gained a reputation as short-lived,
'disposable' pets, and are often passed over in favor of cats or
dogs. Pet owners who buck this trend are happy to tell us how much
we're missing." The rest of the article was a review of just a few
of the reasons bunny lovers enjoy their lapin pals.

Pet
Therapy Licks Loneliness - Sam a 4½ year old Rex Mix
breed rabbit is a frequent visitor to a local Capitola, CA assisted
living facility. According to an article in the Sentinel, this
therapy rabbit calmly munches on his favorite foods – carrot tops
and basil while he waits patiently to see his friends. Several other
pets also visit with
their owners. They are members of an all-volunteer nonprofit called
Furry Friends Pet Assisted Therapy Service who visit once a month
for an hour of unconditional love with the residents at this
long-term senior care facility. “Mietz Egli saw an ad in the paper
for Furry Friends and thought Sam (pictured on the left) would be a
perfect candidate because he loves being petted and is really
social.”

Furry Friends is an all-volunteer organization and is the oldest of
its type in the area. According to one of the Santa Cruz County
volunteer captains, "We are only limited by the number of people who
are willing to volunteer." Even though most Furry Friends members
have dogs, the group welcomes all types of pets including birds,
reptiles, guinea pigs and livestock. "Bunnies are perfect, we would
love more bunnies.” See their website at
www.furryfriends.org

Hunters Save Pet Rabbit from House Fire – in a unusual twist
four hunters in Ohio rescued a rabbit. The four men witnessed
a fire start in a rural house and jumped into action to rescue a pet
rabbit and a truck. The family wasn’t home at the time of the fire,
but the hunters checked the house quickly before the fire burned out
of control. The four men pushed the truck away from the house and
snatched the rabbit from a back deck before the entire structure was
engulfed.

Fat
Rabbits - A recent study, carried out by the insurance firm
Petplan, showed that a quarter of all pet rabbits are overweight in
Britain, with eight out of 10 vets saying the trend is escalating.
They found that some owners were giving treats such as honey and
even chocolate. Carrots were also a problem since newer varieties
are grown for their high sugar content for human tastes. They noted
that “obesity in rabbits is rapidly approaching the same levels
found in dogs and cats, of which about one in three are obese. Some
rabbits are twice their recommended body-weight.” Vets said not
only are house rabbits putting on the pounds, but also outdoor
rabbits kept in hutches that are too small for exercise. Another
culprit cited was “richer processed pet foods.” Two of the
country’s largest pet insurers say obesity-related issues now make
up 25% of claims for rabbits.

Hopperhome is on vacation until November 25th. The
Bunny Blog will hop on that evening. Thank you!

Rabbit
or ?
– Yesterday I received this photo from Janice (a rabbit fan) from
Los Angeles. She had just returned from a trip to Peru, South
America. She wanted to know if this amazing creature shown here is
a type of rabbit. Close, but it is not a rabbit. It is a
Viscacha which is a rodent and in the chinchilla family. This is
the northern viscacha and yes, it has long furry ears and lives in
large colonies (but they are in separate family “apartments”). They
have a cousin, the Plains Viscacha, that lives in Argentina, but
ranchers consider them pests. It’s interesting that even though
lagomorphs are distributed almost worldwide, they are absent from
southern South America. But they have their Viscachas and, of
course, Cavies (guinea pigs) which are indigenous to the Andes.

Bunnies of Cedar Rapids
– Yes, the residents of Cedar Rapids, Iowa are sometimes referred to
as “Bunnies,” according to a recent article on CNN. I imagined
herds of feral rabbits running wild in the neighborhoods within the
city limits. But the moniker doesn’t have anything to do with our
furry, long eared pets. Since the 1930’s Cedar Rapids has been home
to four different minor league baseball teams called Rabbits or
Bunnies.

Rabbit Day at AniMall in Morrisville,
North Carolina - AniMall and the N.C. Triangle House Rabbit
Meetup group are sponsoring "Rabbit Day at AniMall" on Sunday, Nov.
11, noon to 6 p.m, This education and adoption event will feature
opportunities to learn more about the care of pet rabbits as well as
to meet adoptable pet rabbits. Go to this link to RSVP

By the way, not just one, but four North Carolina-based rabbit
rescue groups will participate in Rabbit Day: Bunny Matters of
Raleigh, Carolina Pet Rescue of Durham, Cape Fear House Rabbit
Society of Wilmington, and Dancing with the Bunnies of Greenville.

White
Rabbits Rock
– the Quebec Rabbit Rescue presents the White Bunnies Rock, a
two-day adoption event on Nov. 10th and 11th, Plaza Pointe Claire
(Highway 20 and St. John's Blvd.). Contest, prizes, fun, and
demystifying of the white rabbit! For more information visit www.QuebecRabbitRescue.orgThat’s Snowball
above who is a Jersey Woolley mix and just born in February 2007. He
is litter box trained. Snowball’s profile is at the link above both
in French and English.

October
29, 2007 - A Bevy of Disapproving Bunnies are
frowning their way into the pop culture with Sharon Stiteler’s book
“Disapproving Rabbits.” The Tacoma News Tribune in Washington State
gave the book a good review. The reviewer praised the book for
the photographic study of the rabbits

with haughty attitudes.
See Sharon’s (Bird Chick) website at www.disapprovingrabbits.com
Her book is also available on the website and in bookstores. Sharon
was also recently featured onMSNBC Netiquette – Bunnies Rule the Internet and several other websites. Congratulations
Sharon! (Above is the Disapproving Jack O' Lantern from the
website - too funny!)

Out of the Fire - The North County Times published a recent
article on how Westwood residents have reacted to the fire
devastation. It seems in Rancho Bernardo, one family member found
joy in the sight of a dirty, but quite lively rabbit hunkered done
in the flooded bushes outside her half-burned family room door. She
said “When I saw it, I was so happy I just started jumping up and
down.” I’m sure the rabbit felt the same way!

Nothing But Blue Skies for Stormy
the Rabbit - Stormy, a 2-year-old dappled black-and-white bunny
was one of severalrescued pets honored for courage at gala
event in Scottsdale, Arizona. Stormy was rescued from drowning in a
flood at two months old. He was taken to the East Valley Bunny
Rescue, where caretakers expected him to catch pneumonia and die.
Instead, Stormy went to a foster home where he was brought back to
health with the help of his human fosterer and two pet cats. His
foster mom said Stormy thinks he’s cat, but remains a vegetarian.
Stormy has a career, too. He volunteers for Hospice of the Valley,
visiting patients and he cuddles right up to them.

Former
Pets Take over Campus - I have been reading about the feral
rabbits at the University of Victoria, British Columbia for quite
sometime. The university now has a rabbit committee to deal
with their multiplying problem “that hops around campus and even
delays soccer matches.” There are so many rabbits they are now
moving off-campus and into neighborhoods nearby. The new committee
plans to “. . . look at ways to hear everyone's concerns and
determine the scope of the issue." Eight more rabbits were found
over the weekend during a women’s soccer game that was delayed when
a rabbit popped up near the goal net. Inside the rabbit hole were
eight newborn bunnies. They were taken to a nearby animal hospital
and the game resumed. (Pictured above is just one of the abandoned
pet rabbits at the U of V.)

October 24, 2007, 9:00 p.m. - News for Fire
Displaced Pets - Thanks to Ray Milkey of Rabbit Haven who sent this
good news for fire displaced pets in Southern California - VCA

animal hospitals
(in Southern California) are offering free care for displaced pets
while they have room. You can get a list of the hospitals along
with contact info from their website: Rabbit
Haven

Finnish Bunny Village - Marta sent this
photo of a rabbit village at a park in Tampere, Finland in a warmer
part of the year. These homes could be an inspiration for
bunny hideaway inside a human house.

October
23, 2007, 8:00 p.m. -Cats and Rabbits and
Morehome of theCottontail Cottagehas provided information for people with
companion rabbits in San Diego. They note that
thousands of people are affected by the fires including volunteers
and supporters of the San Diego House Rabbit Society. Foster homes
have been forced to evacuate and many local shelters have contacted
the San Diego HRS to foster their rabbits while this emergency
continues. Although, shelters are accepting pets, many people will
still need help with their pet bunnies.

The San Diego HRS has started an online list for the rabbit
community to post requests and offers of help. To join the group:
San
Diego Emergency Rabbit Assistance - Note:
anyone can post and it is the responsibility of individuals to
evaluate offers of help.

Fire Air Quality Hazard to Rabbits! I know about this
firsthand from a large fire in Carson City, NV a couple of years ago
that got within a mile of home. Leave your pet rabbits inside
or bring them in if they normally spend time outdoors. Rabbits
need clean air with good circulation so find a room for them in the
house. It can really be an issue especially for an older
rabbit or a bunny who is compromised medically.

October 22, 2007 - 9:00 p.m.
- Things that Go Hop in the Night
- Bunnicula is
a children's tale about two family pets, Harold the dog, and Chester
the cat who try to warn their human family that their foundling baby
bunny must be a vampire. In 1979 James Howe published Bunnicula, and Halloween isn't just for ghosts and ghouls
anymore. Bunnicula went on to receive numerous awards as a children's
favorite. There are also two sequels, Howliday Inn and The
Celery Stalks at Midnight.- Go
to
Barnes & Noble’s page of Bunnicula books. The Bunnicula Plush
Doll pictured above is from
Stuffee & Nonsense

The Bunny is Green!
– Earlier this year the House Rabbit Society
started the National HRS Rescue Emergency Fund. This fund is
earmarked to help in emergency rabbit rescue situations around the
country for 50 to 1500 rabbits. They have now exceeded their goal
thanks to very generous donations! They have already made grants to
Animal Friends, Inc to help with a rescue of over 50 domestic
rabbits in Pittsburgh;
Bunny Bunch of Southern California to help with a rescue of over
500 domestic rabbits in Garden Grove, CA;
Wild Rescue of Texas to help with a rescue of 45 domestic
rabbits in the
Louisville Metro Animal Services of Kentucky to help with a
rescue of 100 rabbits from a basement breeder. By the way, if you
want to make
Donation to this fund go to the link.To apply for
these funds, rescue groups and shelters please
Click Here.

is the joint pseudonym of Los Angeles-based husband-and-wife team known
for their whimsical and occasionally absurd
illustrations of modern cityscapes. My favorite illustration is
“Bunny Blossoms.” Unfortunately, the prints are sold out and it’s
not a surprise since it is so original. Click on the thumbnail
picture to see a larger version.

October 18, 2007 - 9:30 p.m. Invasion
of the Bunny Snatchers -
In the Valley Ridge neighborhood of northwest Calgary, Alberta
animal rescue workers are humanely trapping abandoned pet rabbits.
The rabbits are angering residents by eating their gardens. The
rabbit rescuers plan to ship the bunnies to a sanctuary in British
Columbia. According to CBC News, an animal rights activist who is
with “the group Compassion in Action and volunteers for Pound
Rescue, said the city would likely combat the problem by using
snares or poisoning the animals.” Fortunately, there are people who
know the rabbits deserve a better fate and will make sure they have
one.

Hare
Brained! -
It seems poplar trees with rabbit genes accelerate the cleaning of
soil. Researchers have discovered that genetically modified trees
breakdown pollutants 100 times faster than unaltered plants. Tests
were performed on poplar cuttings that had a gene from a rabbit
inserted into them. According to a researcher, “these transgenic
poplars may provide the means to effectively clean sites
contaminated with a variety of pollutants at much faster rates and
at lower costs than can be achieved with current conventional
techniques." The good news is “ultimately, the scientists would like
to manipulate the plant's own genes to achieve the same goal. (The
painting above is “Smiling Tree and a Rabbit” by
Maryam Gousheh-Forgeot)

Handmade
Bunnicula - I found this handmade Halloween sock bunny for sale
on Etsy. The bunny is made from brand new cotton socks and new
orange fabric and filled with nice safe toy stuffing.
Storey Shop at Etsy

Update to Bunny Blog
Entry on October 14th
about the stolen bunny - kind-hearted people touched by the story in
the local newspaper flooded the family with offers of help. One man,
who wished to stay anonymous, went a bunny-hop further and handed
over a special present to the distraught girl – a new bunny. Her
father said “. . . It just shows there are more nice people than
nasty people. "She will love the new rabbit just the same as Gizmo,
but if we get him back it would be fantastic.”

October
16, 2007 - 8:30 p.m. - Rabbit Ears on TV - The
Seattle Animal Services Small Animal facility was featured on
Evening Magazine, a Puget Sound area (Seattle) television
show. The show regularly presents segments on nonprofit animal
rescue organizations and governmental animal services. A
representative from the shelter held very pretty Rex rabbit during
most of the segment. The bunny looked a lot like the male mini Rex
(above), Stewart, who is available for adoption on their website.
If you have a local television magazine program in your city, write
a letter and suggest they feature local animals for adoption.
See
the video segment from Evening Magazine online:
Video featuring Rabbits & Small Petsat Seattle Animal Services.

Inspired
by Rabbits -
Erika Moen is a talented illustrator and has lots of photos of
rabbits on her Flickr web pages with several from BunnyLuv.
She also has a terrific portfolio of her illustrations and cartoons
online. There is one I really enjoyed about rabbits at
Missing Shelter.

By the way,
BunnyLuv
will host their 5th Annual Open House and Fun Day on Sunday,
October 21, 2007 – in Van Nuys, California from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00
p.m. Go to their link for more information. The photo
above is part of their facility.

The House Rabbit Network
Benefit will be held on Tuesday October 23rd from 4:00 p.m. - 9:00
p.m. at Flatbread in Bedford, MA. Flatbread is a unique
restaurant that promotes organic farming and the community. Tuesday
nights are Benefit Nights where Flatbread donates $3.50 from every
large flatbread and $1.75 from a small flatbread to a local charity.
The House Rabbit Network is honored to be the chosen charity for
October 23rd. So if you live within the Bedford, MA area go to the
link above for more information and join other rabbits fans for the
fun! The two adorable bunnies, Skittles & Tootsie above are
the featured as Buns of the Month at the House Rabbit Network
website.

Big Bunny Art - Below is a corner section of a mural in the
Executive Boardroom at SPCA of Texas. Click photo to see a
larger version.

October 14, 2007 - 9:30 p.m. -
Rabbit allergic to carrots snatched–
According to the Mirror Newspaper online, UK, “It may seem hard to
swallow, but this floppy-eared bunny called Gizmo is allergic to
carrots and lettuce and he was taken from his hutch" near Sunderland
in the UK last week. The bunny is a family pet and especially
for a 10 year old girl who is autistic. The family is hoping
for a happy ending and have offered a cash reward for Gizmo.
This is the second rabbit stolen in the area in a week.

Rabbit Videos
- I
receive many requests for videos on rabbit care. TheHouse Rabbit Society
has an excellent selection of videos and CD’s to help keep your
rabbit healthy. Just a few of the titles available are “Your First
House Rabbit, Choosing, Preparation, Feeding and Training” by
Marinell Harriman, “Helping a Friend Make a New Friend - A
Matchmaker’s Guide to Rabbit Introductions to Each Other and to
Other Species,” also by Marinell Harriman and “Encouraging Your
Rabbit to Exercise – Activities that Promote a Bunny’s Fitness.”
There are several other subjects including videos for
veterinarians. See the link above.

Baby Pictures
- If you would like to see photos of baby
rabbits visitAlabama Ears – Foster Babies
They are fostering these babies for the Huntsville Animal Services. When
they are old enough they will will be spayed and neutered and be
available for adoption through the Huntsville Animal Services.

Two Bucks Off – If you are in the Atlanta
area and plan to attend the Atlanta Pet Expo present a coupon from
the Georgia House Rabbit Society with
a full priced adult admission and a $2.00 donation will be made to
the House Rabbit Society. TheGeorgia House Rabbit Society
has the coupon on their website for the upcoming Atlanta Pet Expo
2007 slated for November 3rd and 4th.

Gainesville Rabbit Rescue
For folks who might not be able to afford
the cost of spaying
or neutering your pet bunny, GRR may be able to help. Ask about
their new B.U.N.S. program Email
for more information.

Hoppy Holidays – If you want to get an early start on your
Christmas cards visit theUpstate New York Bunny Themed Holiday
Cards
All profits benefit T.H.E. Rabbit Resource and the upstate NY
Chapter of the House Rabbit Society. Visit the link above for more
information.

Hoppy New Year –Low Country HRS
has announced a new 2008 rabbit calendar is available. They are a
rabbit rescue organization based out of Charleston SC. Go to the
link above for more information.

But if you’re from Texas you might
enjoy a calendar
from Bunny Buddies of Houston Area.
It features some of the cutest rabbits from the Houston area all
year round!

Director's Choice" Rabbits – This caught my attention on the
Los Angeles Area Rabbits
website. 15 New Zealand rabbits were turned into a local shelter
right before Christmas. These rabbits were used for a commercial
shoot. The director took them home and then had his housekeeper drop
them off at the shelter. There are 6 boys and 4 girls still
available for adoption.

Brandee’s Blog
– This
blog is from the Vice President of the Hop-A-Long Hollow, a
Connecticut based Rabbit Rescue that also helps out with the
re-homing of other animals. The purpose of Brandee’s Blog is to give
people an idea of the day to day life running a rabbit shelter. Go
to the link to see this blog or be sure to visitHopalong Hollow.

October 8, 2007 - 9:30 p.m. -

Turning to Bunnies for Comfort
- In Bethesda, Maryland a cancer survivor turns to her rabbit for
comfort. A recent article on the nonprofit “Critters for the Cure”
organization described women who are breast cancer survivors and
their pets. The women will appear in the organization calendar.
Wendy brought her dwarf rabbit, “Mr. Bunnis” to the photo shoot in
June. As she said, “My pets absolutely comforted me. . . They’re
always there to love you and it doesn’t matter. They’re happy to be
petted and sit with you and just be content in the moment.”
Critters for the Cure

Color
Like No Other Ad
A recent commercial for the Sony Bravia Color
Like No Other campaign will air soon. It features Play-Doh
brightly-colored model rabbits hopping about the streets of New
York. They used a mixture of “Play-Doh” or clay rabbits combined
with six inch, one foot and two foot bunnies which were made out of
foam and latex but made to look as if they were made from Play-Doh.
In total we had nearly 200 rabbits of varying sizes. See the
whimsical bunny ad at the link above.

Jaw Abscesses -
Jeff Kahler is a veterinarian in
Modesto and in his recent column in the Modesto Bee he wrote about
rabbit jaw abscesses. The bunny in the article was his patient,
“Oscar,” (a Netherland Dwarf) who developed a swelling on the right
side of his lower jaw and then it became the size of a golf ball.
At that size, of course, it was painful and Oscar’s appetite
decreased. As Dr. Kahler said “I am not an advocate of ‘wait and
see.’ The abscess was surgically removed. This a delicate surgery
since the rabbit’s mouth does not open wide. I have treated
abscesses with “Bicillin” shots with excellent results. But jaw
abscesses such as this may not respond to antibiotics.

September 30, 2007, 9:00 p.m. -
Rash of Rabbit Robberies – All I had to do was go offline for
awhile to replace my crashed computer and it seems a whole lot of
rabbits have been nabbed in the last couple of weeks.

Tea Garden Mystery - A giant
rabbit named Ralph was stolen from a tea garden in Arlington in the
UK. He was taken with 10 chickens and a hutch from a farm shop who
kept Ralph as a pet for customers. It seems nine months ago another
giant bunny named

“Bambi” was stolen from the same
shop. It’s unfortunate, but the shop needs to reconsider keeping a
rabbit for customers to pet.

UnFair
Theft - Someone at the
Puyallup Fair stole a rabbit resting in its cage after it won the
top blue ribbon. A little Netherland Dwarf was somewhat of a
celebrity since he won top prize at this annual State Fair in
Washington State. Miraculously, RJ (the rabbit) was recovered in a
box several blocks from the fairgrounds on the sidewalk several days
later. Someone had left water and chopped up carrots for the
bunny. The owners said they would take the bunny home since he “had
been through a lot” and they didn’t want RJ to be stressed any
further. This was the first rabbit ever stolen at the fair.

Preschool Caper - Sugar Bunny was stolen from a
preschool in Spokane, Washington and fliers protesting circus animal
acts were left in its empty cage. The protest theft was against
Ringling Brothers Circus which was in town for the weekend. (The
preschool had no affiliation with the circus). The fliers named
PETA and the NW Animal Rights Network. However, the director of
PETA’s domestic animal department said the group would not endorse
stealing a pet bunny. After all, how does anyone explain the
missing pet to children (whether or not one believes in cages or
school rabbit pets). I guess the thieves couldn’t fit a circus
elephant or a Siberian tiger in their getaway car so they found a
suitable substitute in a preschool pet bunny.

City Ordinance Breeds a Laugh
– at least I was almost laughing (if it weren’t so misguided) when I
read a story about a proposed ordinance. It seems City Council
members in a northern Wyoming town gave initial approval to an
ordinance that “limits rabbits to three breeding pairs a
household.” Apparently, the Police Chief agrees with my assessment
when he warned that rabbits are among the reproductive wonders of
the world. He said “if you have six . . .you’ll have 60 rabbits.”
Actually, in a year you will have over 2,000 from one pair.

RRR/HRS
13th Annual Rabbit Care Conference will be held on Sunday,
October 21, 2007 at the Radisson Hotel in New Rochelle, NY. The
line-up of informative talks is impressive including: Feeding and
Longevity by Susan Brown, DVM and on Caring for Senior Buns by Mary
Cotter, ED.D., LVT and Gil Stanzione, DVM. Plus, there will be a
demo on introducing bunnies for trio living called, “Threes
Company.” There is too much to list here, but you can go to the
link for more information at:
RRR – NYC HRS 13th Annual Rabbit Care Conference
I wouldn’t miss this if I were within driving distance of New
Rochelle!

Rabbits
Being Abandoned on Long Island – This AP story made the front page of CNN
last week online. Someone has been abandoning rabbits on roadways
and in parks around school grounds on Long Island’s South Shore more
frequently in recent months. Earlier this month, a man was seen
dumping 20 rabbits in a box at a train station and driving away. A
Nassau County SPCA has speculated that someone is raising rabbits
and trying to get out of the business. A reward is being offered
for who is responsible for dumping the bunnies. The rabbits that
have been recovered are infested with fleas and ticks. However,
they are being treated, fed, cleaned and put up for adoption.

September 15, 2007 - Hopperhome's
trusty little e-machine finally crashed for good this weekend.
Time to hop to it and buy a new super fast, up to date, brand new
bunny computer. After all this time, Hopperhome can now invest
in a computer that will keep it hopping along another 9 years - The
Bunny Blog will be back next in a week or so after the new computer is
installed. Thanks for your patience!

September
11, 2007 - 8:30 p.m.Great!
Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary - On August 18th, 108 rabbits from
the
Reno rescue of last year arrived at the GLRS sanctuary.
Though Best Friends had found a home for them, it did not work out.
When GLRS heard of the situation they
let Best Friends know the rabbits would be welcome in Michigan. So
after a three-day truck ride for the rabbits, 108 more Reno rabbits
are happily hopping around the the GLRS sanctuary.

Fair
Rabbits – It’s that time of year again when state or county
fairs open and display rabbits in small cages in stifling, hot
buildings with noisy roosters. This year my sister and I went
up to our regional fair and chatted up people who were interested in
rabbits as pets. We don’t have a booth. But it’s
easy
to start a conversation over a litter of baby rabbits. Bonnie found
the organizers and asked why there weren’t any resting boards in the
cages. Aside from the heat, poking fingers (children) and the din
of noise from people and poultry, there wasn’t a resting board in
sight. I manned my informal conversation station by a cage full of
baby Dutch rabbits and a doe (see them below). Someone mentioned
they had been to a fair in a hotter part of the state and the
organizers asked those
showing Angora rabbits to take their bunnies home due to heat. A
girl showing her Angoras told me she was disappointed since she was
there and I to

ld
her to be grateful she didn't lose her rabbits to the heat, but she
wanted a ribbon. About then Bonnie came over to tell me no one used
a resting board because it was “against the rules” and “wasn’t
clean.” That was it, we headed out to the

booths
for decadent fair food and fresh air. However, we felt glad we had
handed out several cards about rabbit care with website links
for the visitors in the rabbit building. We told them how wonderful
rabbits are as house pets. The photos here are of some of those
rabbits.

September 9, 2007 - 9:30 p.m. - Local TV News Station Features Rabbits!
A news program (Ch. 17 news) in Raleigh, NC recently ran a story
called, “Many
Choose Rabbits for Pets.”
The story online and the video were terrific – see at link.
They interviewed and filmed, Kimberly, who has two lops. She
explained how her rabbits have lots of personality and they like to
interact at floor level. She also said rabbits should be house
pets and have room to exercise. A volunteer from the local SPCA was
also interviewed. She noted that rabbits should be adopted in pairs
and can be litter box trained. Rabbits were shown at their best as
pets.

On the Wild Side –
The federal government released a draft recovery plan for the pygmy
rabbit. Right now there is only one lonely rabbit in Eastern
Washington. Officials plan to get him some company. He was released
earlier this year with 20 other tiny rabbits and now is the only one
remaining. The little pygmy rabbits are the smallest rabbits in
North America and it’s only one of two rabbit species that dig
burrows. The Columbia Basin rabbit has been an isolated population
for thousands of years and is genetically different from other pygmy
rabbits. The Fish and Wildlife Service will accept comments on the
recovery plan until November 6th. I think the lonely pygmy would
say “Hop to it, folks!”

"Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to
hop" — and the music started at the Evergreen State Fair over
Labor Day in Monroe, Washington. The laughing crowd flowed
together, their long ears waving and bobbing. It appears the
Guinness World Record for the largest bunny hop was broken — by a
whisker — by fairgoers . Participants all wore pink and white bunny
ears. Bunny-hop organizers say 1,886 people formally registered for
the event, held in the spirit of the fair's "Be Somebunny! Hop to
the Fair" theme.

September 6, 2007 - 8:30 p.m. - Sprinkles of Kindness in Flood - Water rushed over a dike
across the street from a family home in Rushford, Minnesota where a
bunny named Mr. Sprinkles lived. The late August flood ultimately
caused $12 million property and infrastructure damage in Fillmore
County. About half of the town’s 760 homes were ruined. Mr.
Sprinkle’s family had to evacuate their home in a hurry at 4:00 a.m.
as the water surged over the dike. The rabbit was left in his
backyard cage. The family feared the worst upon their return after
the flood waters receded. They were stunned and relieved to find
Mr. Sprinkles alive in his cage on the front porch after a neighbor
had rescued him.

Volunteer
in Vancouver, B.C.

- Mercy’s Reach Rabbit Refuge (Vancouver, BC)
urgently needs volunteers for cleaning, feeding, grooming and
socializing rescued bunnies, awaiting adoption. Even two hours a
week will help their overworked bunny lovers. Call Muriel
604-530-3297 for more info if you live in the area and can help.
September
5, 2007 - 9:30 p.m. -

Mr. Whiskers May Need a New Home - In Anchorage Alaska officials
are proposing rule changes would require “that Mr. Whiskers the
rabbit find a new home.” The rules to be considered by the Anchorage
Assembly would ban many animals from small backyards, from ferrets
to chickens to bunnies. According, to the Juneau Empire. “the rules
would limit the number of small backyard animals to three on regular
residential lots smaller than 10,000 square feet.” Four rabbits will
require a permit in a backyard. The newspaper included the thoughts
from a rabbit rescuer in their report. “Karan Nixon, who rescues
bunnies, including Mr. Whiskers, says the proposed rules aren't
realistic. She said many people have more than three rabbits, adding
that a crackdown would only deluge Animal Control with orphaned
animals.” Public comments will be taken regarding the proposed
changes in the law in September.

Rabbits in the Will -

Leona Helmsley left her dog Trouble $12
million and even though the amount is unusual, naming a pet as a
beneficiary is not. Ohio allows for trusts for pets. Also, I recall
in 2005 several dogs and a spotted rabbit called Roxy were part of a
gathering in Hawaii to witness the Governor sign a measure into law
that would allow their residents to leave a trust for care of a
domestic animals. It seems, 60% of American households include a
pet as a beneficiary.

Rabbit
Talk - A blog that is written from the perspective of the
rabbits - The
Bunny Lovers Shop Blog - MalouThis blog has some wonderful photos of Malou
and friend Talisman. Both are beautiful agouti lops who live in
France. Don’t worry – the blog is written in English. Malou is
pictured above standing in a gift of parsley. (Hopperhome
doesn't recommend this!)

Wet
British Winter Rabbit Disease -

According to many newspapers in the UK, pet
rabbits have become the latest victims of Britain’s wet summer and
humid weather triggering a resurgence of myxomatosis. The disease
kills wild and domestic rabbits alike. Animal experts in the UK are
encouraging the public to to vaccinate their rabbits against the
disease now and every six months. Wild rabbits have built up some
immunity to the disease that is spread by biting insects like fleas
and mosquitoes. There are estimated to be 1.6 million pet rabbits in
Britain and they are the third-most popular pet after cats and dogs,
but only one in ten pet rabbits is thought to be vaccinated against
the disease. Myxomastosis also rarely occurs in the United States
primarily in California and is not as prevalent as in the UK. For
more info see: Oregon
State University Myxomatosis Information

Red Eyes Have Power - In the Edo period in Japan during the Hina
(girls) Festival parents pray for their daughters' happiness through
a thread taken from a piece of old clothing. It is then sewn into a
hanging ornament such as the one shown below. People entrusted their
wishes to the ornaments. The ornaments (110 different ones) have
separate meanings. The red eyes of a rabbit are traditionally
supposed to have the power of curing diseases.

Resources for Animal Shelters
on their website. So many shelters are only set-up for cats and
dogs and do not have resources for small animals. The HRS has
materials to help educate the public, improve a rabbit adoption
program and provide proper care for rabbits at a shelter. Visit
your local shelter and let them know. See the links above.

Ferret
Friends - Yesterday I received an email from someone who saw
young ferrets and rabbits housed next to each other in a pet store
and wanted to get one of each. First, I told them to adopt from a
rescue organization. Then, I explained that Ferrets are the
domesticated descendants of the wild polecat and they are kept as
both pets, but also as “working ferrets” that help flush out wild
rabbits from burrows for hunters. They are carnivores and the few
times I have seen rabbits go on a real “thump fest” (a signal danger
is near) was when a raccoon or ferret was close. I don’t recommend
it even though I have heard from ferret owners that their ferrets
would never attack a rabbit. Personally, I wouldn't take that chance
and two ferrets together would be great companions as pets. For a
directory of Ferret adoption resources see Ferret Organizations & Shelters

Rabbit
RadioI found this diminutive white rabbit
FM Radio on the internet. In this age of ipods, this is a novel
gift for a rabbit fan. They also come in pink and run around $10.
See the link above for more information.

Folded
Rabbits - Cindy at Fingermagic wrote me about the Origami
Rabbit Kits they have for sale. They look like fun folding for
adults and children. See the photo of these cheerful folded rabbits
on the right. Also, they have a beautiful Origami
Rabbit Necklace in white.

24 carrot
lane Proclaims First Annual Worldwide Rabbit Love + Appreciation Day- A special day for rabbits on August 24th! It is
all about encouraging rabbit parents everywhere to do their small
part to spread the word about responsible rabbit guardianship, to
let others know how intelligent and affectionate rabbits can be, and
to remind everyone that they CAN make a difference for the better,
which will ultimately help to reduce the number of rabbits
surrendered to shelters. Tania of 24 carrot lane has
several suggestions on how you can do you a bit of good where you
are, in honor of rabbits everywhere. Your suggestions are welcome,
too. Check it out at the link above!

Update
on Seattle’s Woodland Park Rabbits – Good News! According to KIRO
news in Seattle, “hundreds of rabbits abandoned in Seattle parks
have been rounded up and taken to an animal sanctuary” near the
Olympic Mountains. The rabbits were under stress in their temporary
housing in a old chapel in a city park. Precious Life Animal
Sanctuary are going to build a permanent rabbit pen funded by the
taxpayers. See website for
Precious Life Animal Sanctuary.

BADD "Bunnies Against Drunk Driving– The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that a 19 year old man
sped down a street and severed a telephone pole. His pet rabbit was
in the car! Fortunately, the car stopped before it ran into a
house. The prosecutor said that “speeding and alcohol were believed
to factors in the crash.” Both the rabbit and driver were unharmed.

Hillsboro Rabbit Hoard Case
Postscript - It was disturbing to read the
Eugene Register Guard article about the Hillsboro, Oregon woman who
was arrested last year for animal neglect. Miriam Sakewitz "has
returned to jail because she violated her probation by keeping a
rabbit at her house.” Last year when she was originally arrested she
had almost 250 rabbits, including 88 who had passed away.

A county probation
officer, “testified that Sakewitz, 45, had a rabbit at her house in
June, repeatedly canceled counseling sessions and did not open her
door for unannounced visits.” Also, two neighbors testified. The
judge sent her to jail for three days and “he also ordered her not
to go within 100 yards of a rabbit when she gets out.” For
information on animal hoarding see the Tufts University website at:AnimalHoardingResearch

August
6, 2007 - 10:30 p.m. - Priceless Rabbit - A bunny named
“Harry” was featured in an article in the Akron Beacon Journal about
how Americans spend $41 billion a year on their pets. Harry’s bunny
mom said they found him “He just hopped up the neighbor’s yard about
six years ago and needed a home, so we took him in.” A some point
Harry started bumping into things and had eye surgery last year.
Six year old Harry goes to a veterinarian who has a ophthalmology
practice. Specialized veterinary eye care is becoming more common.
Artificial lenses to replace natural eye lenses clouded over by
cataracts are available for cats and dogs. No one has made
replacement lenses for rabbits yet. Cataracts can be removed.
However, a rabbit like one of my own (Mr. Bumble) isn't a candidate
for surgery since he is over 9 years of age and is already medically
compromised. Fortunately, Harry was able to tolerate surgery. He
also has a princely life. The article notes Harry likes to nestle
in his mom's lap while she sips coffee and reads the newspaper. Now
that’s priceless! For more information on rabbit eye health see:

Rabbits on the Road -
According to Explorer.com pets are no longer relegated to small
motels and campgrounds. The AAA’s 2004 Traveling with Your Pet
Guide says “20,000 up-scale accommodations are happy to shake paws
with your whole family.” It seems Loews Hotels opens their doors to
all walks of life, from dogs and cats, and yes, rabbits. The
concierge at one of their hotels said “A lot of our guests choose to
travel with their pets, especially during the summer months. It
makes for a great work environment for all our employees.” With
that trend toward a pet friendly attitude, it’s no wonder 67 percent
of pet owners travel with their pets when over 50 miles away from
home.

PetSmart Rabbit Sales - Last
week the Arizona Republic and the Green Bay Press ran articles about
the move by PetSmart to sell rabbits. Petsmart has “begun breeding
and test selling dwarf rabbits.” A company spokeswoman was quoted
as saying, “We certainly don’t doubt that there are rabbits in
shelters that need homes, but we also know that there are people
seeking pets that have been bred and want to have that pet from the
start.” The article goes on to say “rabbit sales began the week of
July 9 and are placed in 25 stores nationwide. That number could
expand to a maximum of 40 stores.” For more information and to
express your concerns go to:

Little
Cotton Rabbits – That’s the screen name for a bunny knitter in
the UK. Julie has a wonderful store on Etsy. And, she does knit
the rabbits to relax. However, her rabbits are very popular so she
is taking a break until autumn. But go see her gallery of knit
rabbits atLittle Cotton Rabbits

July
31, 2007 - 9:30 p.m. - The Story of Chris Dodd's White Hare - Candidate for
President Chris Dodd has a White Hare. His
campaign was in a
frantic search for a well-behaved bunny and found that a 3-year-old
New Zealand shorthair from the Humane League of Lancaster County was
just the ticket. Dodd named him Lancaster. On Senator Dodd's
website there are more videos of Lancaster behind-the-scenes – see
link above. Lancaster was actually saved the day of the shoot from
an animal shelter, where he was slated to be "put down" within the
next forty-eight hours. Happily, Lancaster now lives with a new
owner. It seems Dodd gave Lancaster his 1 minute of fame and in the
process found the big white bunny a new home. Too bad rabbits can’t
vote! (PS: Hopperhome doesn't endorse any presidential candidates.)

Advance
in Science Helps Rabbits - From a post on the blog at SciFi.com
- I learned “scientists at L'Oreal have invented a product called
Episkin, which is basically a layer of skin cells grown from human
'donor skin cells' in a Petri dish. These small amounts of skin can
be used to test beauty products that would have otherwise been
tested on animals. Episkin can tan, and can be made to "age" with
high exposure to UV light.”

Episkin will help save thousands of small
animals, particularly rabbits, in providing cruelty-free cosmetics
for consumers. Europe will institute an animal beauty
product-testing ban in 2009. The practice is banned in the U.K.
already. The photo above is from

No
Moo Juice for Rabbits - A couple of days ago I received an email
asking if cow’s milk is okay for an adult rabbit. My email answer
was returned so I hope Steve reads this blog entry. Cow’s milk
should never be given to adult or orphaned baby rabbits. From the
scientific literature cited on MediRabbit it says “Adult rabbits naturally do not have
the right bacteria to digest milk derivates in the cecum and
intestine. In the absence of Lactobacteria, milk derivates
accelerate the onset of stasis in adult rabbits.” To see the entire
page go MediRabbit’s link above. Also, studies show that, “rabbits
that were given cow’s milk on a daily basis during several months
evidenced the development of rheumatoid like lesions.” The word
“stasis” should stop any rabbit lover in their tracks from giving
milk to a rabbit let alone the part about “lesions.” That’s a big
NO for milk in a rabbit’s diet.

Hopping Mad – First there was a
Wall Street Journal Article
about Hare Today where a rabbit farmer spends her days packing and
shipping frozen rabbits to her customers who feed them to their cats
since the pet food scare a couple of months ago. Then the
Chicago Tribune Article
in the Chicago Gardener column picked up the theme suggesting all
the extra rabbits ravishing gardens in
Chicago
could be used for the same purpose. I got out my pen and started
writing.

I have two cats in the household. When the pet food industry
contamination became news, my sister and I simply checked our pet
food. Fortunately, it was not on the list of contaminated pet food.
If it had been, the cats would have gone in for a vet appointment
and their food would have been switched. (My cat, Pele, grooms Mr.
Hops above.)

July
28, 2007 - 9:30 p.m. -PetSmart
Best Friends Petition - Please sign the petition asking Petsmart
to reconsider its decision to sell rabbits in its stores. Best
Friends Petition Best friends has a Rabbit
House at their sanctuary near Kanab, Utah. If you can't take a
trip to Utah visit them at Best Friends Bunny House on their website.
That's Snuff, a Flemish Giant and his friend Cocoa who is a dwarf
rabbit both from Best Friends.

July 25, 2007 - 9:00 p.m. - PetSmart Petition -
Several rabbit lovers emailed me today to let me know (and all Bunny
Blog readers) a petition is available on ipetitions.com regarding
PetSmart: Stop Selling Rabbits. If you are concerned about this
issue, you can read text of the petition and electronically sign in
about 60 seconds. I will be visiting to sign as soon as the blog is
finished. Go to:
Petition

Store hops to save bunnies - Several
news media outlets covered the story about a Tops Market that was
overrun with several white
rabbits behind their store in Erie, PA. So far 16 white bunnies have
been rounded up. It is believed someone dumped them in the woods
directly behind the store. The employees hopped in and took the task
of bunny wrangling upon themselves. Plus, they are going to try to
find permanent homes for them. Many of the rabbits went home with
store employees. The rabbits included several very small baby
bunnies and a few full grown adult rabbits.

July
23, 2007 - 10:30 p.m. -Hop Hop Hurray for the Humane Society
of Fairfax County whose shelter looks more like a home than a
typical shelter. The two-story building is home to the cats and
rabbits ready to be adopted. The HSFC is a no-kill shelter and their
main goal is to give animals a good home and the shelter is a good
start. They have volunteers who sit and play with the animals and
many of their volunteers are students from George Mason University.
Some GMU students sit in the rooms and do their homework.

Each
room is cleaned twice a day and specifically designed with the
animals in mind. The rooms include a radio, usually playing
classical music, a nightlight and toys and linens, donated from
Fairfax County residents. The "rabbit room" was cleared of anything
a rabbit could chew on. Rabbits are on rotation for time outside of
their cage. If the rabbits are compatible, they are housed together
and then they are adopted together," according to the HSFC
President. (Tiger is one of their adoptable rabbits pictured above.)

Down
the Rabbit Hole - A couple of pet dogs were stuck in a rabbit
hole for three days in Hertfordshire, England recently. They
finally got free (Winnie the Pooh style) when the mother Jack
Russell and her puppy lost enough weight to wriggle out. It seems
the puppy ran down the rabbit hole chased by his chubbier mother.
She got stuck trapping not only herself, but her puppy inside the
warren. The dog owners were understandably upset.

This
also happened a couple of years ago when a dog was trapped over 6
feet down in a warren. Fortunately, he also managed to get out with
some help. Rabbit warrens have been known to destabilize soils so
much that a bus in Britain fell several feet into an abandoned
warren last year on the side of a road. The photo above is a warren
entrance from Sweden excavated by European rabbits (our pet rabbit
ancestors). So if anyone is wondering why their pet rabbit digs and
needs advice – see these links:

Sizeable
Theft - A giant French lop was stolen from his garden run in
Port Seton, UK. The big bunny was very lucky to come home safe and
sound after being found in an abandoned garden some distance away.
The rabbit’s name is “Wee Jock” and he is very tame. His owners
regard him as a member of the family. They don’t plan to leave him
in the garden alone ever again and were very happy he was unharmed.
He is normally a house rabbit, but was on a run in his large outdoor
enclosure when he was taken. The people who first located Wee Jock
though he was a large cat due to his size.

Pictured above: Tango is a big beauty at the

Giant Rabbit Rescue in the UK. He is one of their newest
bunnies. Tango is an orange and white French Lop Buck with a
wonderful temperament.

Bunny
Bath - Moen (the faucet maker) took a look at how
Americans bath their pets – they commissioned a company to do a
survey and found out that 47 percent of Americans bathe their pets
in their home bathtub or shower. It seems only 6 percent take a pet
to the groomer. It seems most folks bathe cats or dogs, but 5
percent surveyed have bathed their birds and guinea pigs and 4
percent. One percent have bathed their rabbit. However, rabbits
don’t need to take a shower or bathe in a tub. At only 1% it seems
most rabbits are cleaning themselves. After all rabbits clean
themselves five times a day top to bottom - someone pass the carrot
scented soap please. (The photo above is a stamp from a
collections of rabbit themed stamps at:
Hopper Stamps)

Black Rabbit
- Hiroko sent me this photo of the Kuro Usagi (Black Rabbit) Pub in
Okinawa. She also has a black rabbit named Kuro. She enjoys knitting
"coats" for her rabbit for their walks in the winter since he is a
full-time house rabbit. (By the way, no Rabbit served in this
pub.)

July
20, 2007- 8:30 p.m.

- White Rabbits Need Your Help
I heard from Kathy in Massachusetts
who referred me to theHouse Rabbit Network.
It seems they have rescued a lot of white
rabbits recently. Some of these were strays and others were
from a law enforcement case.
I'm not sure why some people don't love pink eyed big
white rabbits, but I adore them - all of them....New Zealand and
Florida White breeds. They are classic rabbits and I agree
wholeheartedly with the House Rabbit Network that these big rabbits
have wonderful, calm and playful personalities. If you live in
Massachusetts
or close by and would like a spayed/neutered and litter box trained
big white bunny, there is one waiting for you. You will have
lots of support on rabbit care from this great rescue group,
too. The rabbits pictured above were part of the
34
rabbits from a law enforcement case in Fitchburg, MA. The gorgeous
rabbit on the right is Candace who is a friendly Florida White and
ready to adopt. She was part of the Fitchburg rescue.Summer Bunny Bash! Save the Date, Saturday August 4th is
HRN's 8th Annual Summer Bunny Bash. It starts at 1pm in Wilmington,
MA. The Bunny Bash is a pot luck and everyone brings pictures of
their bunnies and plenty of stories to tell! Visit their link above
for more information

.

July
17, 2007 - 9:00 p.m. -

On the Wild Side:
Swamp Rabbit Restrooms - According to an Associated Press
article, researchers are building better bathrooms for Swamp
Rabbits. The scoop on all the bunny poop is that researchers at So.
Illinois University are setting out fake latrines so they can study
the aquatic rabbits' habits. They want to know if returning former
agriculture farmlands into wetlands or wilderness will help the
rabbits’ population jump in Illinois. Their baseline is this:
“Knowing where the bunnies have been requires knowing what they left
behind.” It seems to be working since the swamp rabbits who are
excellent swimmers and cousins of cottontails are leaving their
calling cards in the new custom commodes.

Hare Raising Pot
of Flowers - A woman in Glenvar, Virginia found three baby
cottontails "planted” in her pot of petunias. The pot is just ten
feet from the home’s back door, but the doe doesn't seem to mind.
She is feeding the bunnies at night. The home owner, thought at
first it was squirrels who were digging in her pots only to find the
newborns nestled in the largest pot. They were discovered probably
when they were only a few days old since they were very small and
their eyes weren’t open yet. Now they are fully furred and ready to
hop out of their pot. See the flower pot bunnies
pictured on the left.

Parking Lot
Bunnies Rescued - From the Winona, Minnesota Daily News –
“During a torrential downpour last week, Nancy Unnasch and a few
volunteers from the Winona Humane Society and the Pet Medical Center
were busy rounding up abandoned rabbits in the K-Mart parking lot.”
The bunnies were dumped near a “swampy wooded area near the edge of
the lot” so they had no protection. They captured 17 out of 25
rabbits and efforts were made over the next few days to get the last
six, but to no avail. Unfortunately, the local human society does
not taken in rabbits so Nancy took the rabbits to her home to await
adoption or transport to shelters in the Twin Cities area. She is a
certified Veterinary Technician and it seems every rabbit picked up
by Winona (Minnesota) animal control gets to her door. Anyone who
lives near Winona, MN and is interested in adopting a rabbit can
call Nancy Unnasch at (507) 458-1320 according to the article.

By the way, i

n
the Twin Cities area the Minnesota Companion Rabbit Society is a very active rescue and
adoption group with many rabbits available for adoption such as
Tristan & Isolde pictured above.

Very Bad Sport –
In sports news it was reported that a 52 year old man will be
prosecuted for throwing a rabbit during a game in Milan. The
rabbit’s legs were tied up so it could not escape. Fortunately, the
animal was recovered in the middle of the game and rushed to medical
help. In spite of suffering some unspecified injuries and shock,
the rabbit survived and has been adopted. The “procurator” in Milan
is requesting minimal punishment of a fine for animal cruelty.
However, the man could face charges for throwing an object at a
sporting event and in Italy he could face one to four years in
prison.

July
16, 2007 - 10:00 p.m. - PetSmart Should Be Smarter Than to Sell
Live Rabbits – PetSmart hasn't sold live rabbits in their stores
until now. According to the HRS, PetSmart’s reason for selling
rabbits is in response to “market demand.” There hasn’t been a
noticeable surge in the demand for pet rabbits considering all the
adoptable rabbits languishing in shelters and with rescue groups. In
fact, there are more rabbits who need homes due to the Easter
"dump." A compassionate answer to customer demand would be adoption
days at pet supply stores, and referrals to shelters and rescue
groups. Read about PetSmart’s decision to sell rabbits at www.rabbit.org Please take the time to
write a brief email to them (I did today) to let them know your
concerns. (Rosemary above was my
“Petco Rabbit” – read her story at Rosemary Rabbit)

Writer Jumps to It & Gets the Facts Right
– I don’t really monitor newspaper stories about pet rabbits so
I can scold the writers. But Samantha with the Independent mail in
Anderson, South Carolina got an earful from this rabbit fan last
week. However, she gets a lot of credit for writing another “humor”
column about pet rabbits on why they aren’t the best pet for small
children and correcting some errors about their longevity, etc. Her
readers got the facts on pet rabbits and everyone’s hoppy now. Read
her article at:
Samantha Learns the Facts of Life About Rabbits

Lonely
Rabbit Calls Police - The Guardian Online in Corydon, UK
reported on a strange call. It seems police officers “forced entry
into a home in a bid to help a woman heard crying only to find it
was her rabbit who had called for attention.” It seems the phone
operators monitoring service connected to the house told the police
they heard a woman crying and whimpering on the line. So when the
officers were unable to find a friend or relatives to assist they
“demolished the door and frame and a large part of the surrounding
wall and hallway.” They found a large brown, lop-eared rabbit with
Dutch markings “hopping around the front room and whimpering.” So
much for a distressed “woman” – the rabbit was a male, too.
Humphrey, the rabbit, had pulled the cord which phones the
monitoring service while his owner was out shopping. I think Mr.
Humphrey needs to be bonded to a rabbit friend soon.

Bronze Bunnies - Georgia Gerber does
the most wonderful sculpture and bronze casting especially of animal
figures like rabbits. She lives on rural Whidbey Island,
Washington, where she operates her own studio and foundry with the
assistance of two women artisans and her husband. She primarily
works with life size animal and human figures – see her wonderful
rabbit sculptures on her website like “Stretching Hares” pictured below.

July
10, 2007 - 9:30 p.m.- Cottontail Out Foxes a Cat – in the
Houston Chronicle Dr. Michael Fox’s column featured a story sent in
by a reader in Minneapolis. Just outside a large backyard the mother
rabbit tried to rear her new litter a few feet outside the fence
while a chocolate lab presided over the yard. But unfortunately the
babies were attacked and killed by a cat. This year the rabbit made
her shallow nest 8 feet in front of the dog’s house and all are
thriving. The dog is unbothered by the rabbit family in his yard.
(Above is a Giant Continental Rabbit and a Black Lab who are best
buddies.)

Rabbit Shopping Finds Online!
I did a little window shopping online for my rabbits and found some
great bargains and new items for rabbits.

Bunny Bunch– Check out this Extra
Large Willow Tunnel for big buns. Finally!

Bunny Bytes has a new Bunny Treat Jar
that’s airtight and keeps treats fresh (and even those papaya pills
some bunnies love.)

Funny Bunny Toy Company With a hobby that became a business these
natural toys were created and great for chewing, tossing and
playing. Huge Variety.

Leith Petwerks It's a treat, it's a
toy...wait, it's both – stuff this with timothy hay and watch your
rabbit enjoy this treat/toy.

July
9, 2007 - 9:00 p.m. - Bunderful Generosity – In Coventry,
England the RSPCA put out the word in the local newspaper about a
white rabbit who needed donations to cover the cost of an operation
to remove a badly infected eye. Over 100 generous people came
forward and donated $4000.00 (US) Dillion got his operation and is
on the road to recovery. He will be reunited with his mate, Julie,
who also arrived in terrible condition. Both will be ready for
adoption as a pair soon. The operation cost $300.00 and the RSPCA
had a little extra leftover. They are now repairing buildings
and the funds will keep the center open for the all the animals.
It’s all due to the kindness of people who wanted to help one
rabbit. Dillion's
photo wasn't available.

Rescued
Just in Time –
According to InsideBayArea.com, “Nearly a dozen rabbits, some soaked
in urine and kept with no food or water, were rescued by police last
Tuesday from dirty, cramped cages behind a four-plex. “ Some of the
bunnies were only 4 weeks old and some of the cages were small bird
cages. The Oakland Animal Services representative said “The owner
could face charges of misdemeanor animal cruelty and neglect because
of conditions the rabbits were kept in.” With temperatures rising
this past week in California, the rabbits were found in the knick of
time. The rabbits are being cared for at the shelter and will be
available for adoption. Call (510) 535-5602 or visit their web site Oakland Animal Services (One of the
rescued bunnies is pictured above.)

Bunny
Gets Standing Ovation - The Calgary Sun reported something very
bunny happened at a football game between the Calgary Stampeders and
Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Several times during the contest, a rabbit ran
onto the McMahon Stadium turf, once causing a delay of the
Tiger-Cats punt team. When the bunny scampered across the goal line,
the alert crowd at McMahon Stadium let out a huge cheer. But the
baby bunny didn't stop there, taking the play all the way down the
opposite end to score again for another ovation.

Iowa Rabbit Day at the
Spa- the Animal Rescue League of Iowa is rolling out the red
carpet for rabbits on the afternoon of July 28th with a Bunny Spa
Retreat. For $5, bunnies can get nail trimming, grooming, ear
cleaning and a massage. There also will be a special rabbit movie
and fresh rabbit greens and more. The Animal Rescue League's own
rabbit and small-animal specialist will be on hand to answer
questions. Plus, some beautiful rabbits will also be available for
adoption. Hay, someone pass the carrot juice!

One
Bun Salute - The folks at the
San Diego House Rabbit Society have a great sense of humor. I
was too late to get a shirt for this year, but I’m ordering one for
next 4th of July like the one pictured on the left – One
Bun Salute. There are two other designs to choose from – see the
shirts at San Diego HRS Patriotic T-Shirts and More
If you look around their Café Press store, they also have some nifty
bunny grooming aprons. (They could be salad making aprons.) And,
they get my vote for the one of the cleverest rabbit names I’ve seen
for a rabbit: Elvis Parsley

July 3, 2007 - 9:30 p.m. - July 4th is a
Loud Day for Rabbits - remember to keep your rabbits secure and
inside the house. A rabbit's hearing is far more sensitive than a
human's hearing. The sound of a radio or TV can help mute the sound
of fireworks. My bunnies like a little classical music. Be sure
fireworks don't pop off outside the room where the rabbit is housed.

July
2, 2007 - 9:30 p.m. -
Bouncing Baby Bunnies -
Ray from Rabbit Haven (Scotts Valley, CA) sent me a
video of 8 babies that he has been fostering (two were adopted last
week).They are quite a herd of hopping bunnies. They will eventually
grow into their big ears, too. See three minutes of cuteness at
Baby Bunny Video A great way to start a
Monday!

Thanks to Austin Statesman.com writer
Jane Greig who wrote a commentary/response to a question about a
full grown abandoned rabbit who recently appeared and is living in
her garden. Jane’s answer gave the number to the House Rabbit Resource Network. She also
noted the HRRN currently has 250 rabbits needing homes with an
average foster stay of six months. She also suggested if “you use a
humane trap to catch the rabbit, check it every hour to prevent
death from stress, heat or predators.” This is especially important
in the warm weather.

Quote
of the week
- gotta love British bunny lovers and press …Reuters wrote a report
on the on Britain's new Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance
minister), Alistair Darling. The article was all about politics
until they wrote: “With jet-black eyebrows under a mop of silver
hair, Darling cuts an unusual figure in parliament. Until a few
years ago, he also sported a beard-a rare sight among cabinet
ministers. He also has a pet rabbit called Bertie. ‘It's the
biggest rabbit you've ever seen. It must be three feet long,’ said
one visitor to the Darling home.”

June
28, 2007 - 8:45 p.m. - Shop Rabbit – The first time I met a “shop rabbit”
was in an antique store where a large French Lop lounged on the
furniture. He fit right in with the décor. Pictured on the right is
"Mel Blanc." Mel is a three year old Champagne D’Argent breed rabbit
who welcomes visitors to the Scooter Gallery in Seattle, Washington.
Mel spends most of his day enjoying the waterfront view out the
windows. However, he is very social and enjoys greeting visitors to
the shop. He also patrols the showroom to make sure it's hopping.

West Nile Virus - Bob from Colorado
emailed me since he is concerned about West Nile Virus and his pet
rabbit who spends exercise time in the backyard. According to the
South Dakota Dept. of Health website, “WNV can make horses very ill.
It can also be detected in dogs, cats, bats, chipmunks, raccoons,
skunks, squirrels, and domestic rabbits. It is important to
remember that animals cannot transmit WNV to people. “ See the CDC West Nile Virus 2007 Activity Map to find out where the
disease has been active this year. Also, the Center for Disease
Control website has a information on mosquito control and lots more
resources.

Bento Box Bunny - In Japan the
bento is a individual portion take-out meal. The container can be
as simple as a throwaway box to elaborate handcrafted boxes. Below
is a photo of a rabbit shaped bento emailed to me by Lisa in Japan.

June
27, 2007 - 9:30 p.m. - Bad Hare Day on Milan Runway – that’s the airport runway.
The airport flights were suspended for three hours at Milan's Linate
airport according to the AP Wire while a hare capture took place.
They netted 57 hares and 4 rabbits. All were taken to nearby nature
reserves according to the article. The leaping lagomorphs were
causing false alarms in the control towers. Milan is better known
for it’s fashion and style where every “hare” stays in place instead
of wild hares.

A
Little Wild -
Conservation biologists are encouraged
the last male/female pair of Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits out
of the twenty released last spring have successfully bred. The
little rabbits are the only rabbits who dig their own burrows in the
United States and were released to help increase their numbers. It
seems they have a bit of catching up to do since coyotes, badgers,
hawks and owls took their toll. Two other males who wandered out of
the study area were captured and sent back to the captivity. If I
were those pygmy rabbits, I’d stay close to the burrow for now.

Keep
Flies from Striking – Fly strike is a disgusting condition in
rabbits caused by flies laying their eggs under the skin of a
rabbit. By the way, a trip to the veterinarian is in order if you
think your rabbit may have fly strike.

The best prevention is to have a fly free house. Use whatever
means you can like fly traps/strips, fly swatters and repair screen
doors and window screens. Make sure your rabbits are dry and
their area cleaned daily. If you have a disabled rabbit with problems such
as incontinence or fecal matter sticking to fur, keep the bunny as
clean as possible. I have also clipped the fur short around a
rabbit’s bottom to help. After experiencing the results of fly
strike in some of my rabbits when they were rescued, I know how
important it is to make sure rabbits are in a “no fly zone.”

By the way, the handmade
bunny with wings is a lot prettier than a picture of a house fly.
It was sent to me months ago from a Bunny Blog visitor in Japan so I
don't know where to buy them.

June
25, 2007 - 8:30 p.m. - Rabbits Would Approve! -For those of
you who haven’t visited the Disapproving Rabbits Website,
please take the time on your coffee break since it is
“hare”larious. It will definitely make your day especially if you
have seen the disapproving look from your own rabbit (or rabbits).
Someone at Harper Collins book publishers found Sharon Stiteler’s
disapproving rabbits so intriquing that a Disapproving Rabbits Book
is due out this October 2007. Yes, Disapproving Rabbits: the Book
will be going nationwide at bookstores. I bet the rabbits approve of
this! Order direct from Sharon herself at the link above. Sharon
will autograph and/or inscribe a personal message for you.
Congratulations to Sharon on her book!

On
the Wild Side: Coyotes, aka Canis latrans is one more reason to
keep your rabbits as house rabbits. One of these distant cousins to
the dog family and native of North America was standing about 12
feet from my back door over the weekend. He was a young coyote and
casually sniffing the grass until he disappeared back into the
forest greenbelt behind my home. Coyotes can adapt to many
different environments including urban areas like the one found in
New York City a few months ago. My sister and I enjoyed watching
the coyote and were glad all of our pets are indoors.

A Clover Deterrent - The Boston Globe
published a recent article on the benefits of clover in yards. One
of best reasons for planting clover is how appetizing it is to wild
rabbits. “Rabbits are so fond of clover, garden experts say, that if
you determine where their burrows are and grow a patch of clover
between their homes and your vegetable garden, they'll never make it
to your beans and carrots.”

Yearly
Check-up - my two old bunny boys visited the vet last week for
their yearly exams. Hops is seven years old and Bumble is
nine. Hops, who had
a very rough beginning, was just fine. Mr. Bumble had a blood
panel done and he was normal, too. He has a bit of arthritis in a
forepaw he broke two years ago. His eyesight is going due to
cataracts, but he still has some vision. The visit was noisy since
Hops and Bumble have bonded, and are very protective of each other.
Both thump at me when I pick the other one up. It was a real
"thump fest" at the vet's office when the vet tech removed one or
the other from the carrier.

Hoppy Thoughts - While my server was
down for editing the last several days, I had time to rethink the
web design for Hopperhome's website and what else I want to add to
it this year. I will be making time to make changes this year
and adding more to the website content especially on health issues.
A few contests are planned, too. I will keep you posted!

June
12, 2007 - 9:00 p.m. - A Rabbit’s Best Friend can sometimes be a
dog. The story about fifty Reno Rescue Rabbitswho found a new home with thirty Rottweilers at
the Broken Heart Animal Rescue in Texas maybe a little unusual.
However, the rescued rabbits have separate living quarters. The
last time I blogged about dogs and rabbits I received an email from
a Rottweiler and bunny
owner. The dog was well-behaved with her English Spot. Some people believe it depends on the dog
breed if they are safe to live with a house rabbit. But there
are exceptions like the Beagle owner who had a near tragedy upon
introducing a new rabbit in her home. On the other hand, a
German Shepard owner wrote that her dog was protective of her dwarf rabbits.
The little rabbit pair slept
with the dog during the day. See these articles about dog and
rabbits together: When
Fido Met Thumper (Dogs and Rabbits),
Dogs & Rabbits
(about the Dalmation & Hershey pictured above), and Dogs & Rabbits Article. Video about a Dobie who Loves Bunnies

Idea
for a Rabbit Home - Speaking of dogs, a large dog kennel can be
a great habitat for a rabbit. Joyce emailed this photo to me
as an example since this photo inspired her to turn an unused dog
kennel into a bunny home. She is working on adding a shelf to
Reggie the rabbit's newly remodeled kennel. This kennel breaks down
flat and is portable. By the way, Joyce leaves the kennel door open
90% of the time, but "Reggie loves lounging in his own space."

Illuminated Rabbit Lamps in Soho London
from Bob & Shannon, rabbit lovers on vacation in the Britain.

June
11, 2007 - 9:30 p.m. - Boing - That's a Lot of Bunnies - Karen and Nimal from Boing in Australia are rabbit
rescuers with over a dozen living in different rooms in their
house. You can see them all on at
Boing Bunnies on Video.
If you think you
have lots of rabbits, this couple has a pair or single rabbit in
every room in the house. The rabbits and humans all look happy.
The interludes of Karen and Nimal running in their hallway with
litter boxes to each room is pretty humorous. I know that feeling.
By the way, that's Annebelle above who I think is the "kitchen
bunny."

Cartoon
Rabbits - Boing also
features the work of artist, Joelle Mayberry
They call them her “cheeky” cartoon rabbits (sample on left). I
don’t know if she ships to the USA, but she can make any bunny “into
a cartoon.” Go see her artwork and for more information about
immortalizing your rabbit see the link above. By the way Joelle is
a bunny lover with her two bunnies, Daisy & George.

Police
Band together for Bunnyless Family - In Ipswich, Britain, the
Evening Star newspaper reported police did something really
“bunderful” - they surprised a family who lost their pet rabbit by
digging into their own pockets to get them a new rabbit. The
original rabbit most likely escaped while playing in the backyard
and met a terrible fate on the roads nearby. A new black rabbit
“Roger” was presented to the family when police heard how upset the
family was over their loss. The police officer said “We felt really
bad when we heard through various different people that [the rabbit]
had unfortunately been hit by a car.” So the police “banded together
to pay for Roger and an outdoor run so he cannot escape.”

Crisp and clean and everything
green with pink rabbit centers! The rabbit embedded soaps smell like
romaine! I found them on www.etsy.com
– the hip crafts website
with thousands of one of a kind items.

If you know your way around a sewing machine, this is a whimsical
pillow with a pocket for the two little bunny stuffers. Photos and
all instructions to make one yourself at the link above.

Goldfish
Don’t Burrow - In Germany the EarthTimes.com reported on how
Germans spoil their pets. And, it seems they are becoming more
responsible when it comes to choosing their pets. However, the
article noted there are exceptions. A German Veterinarian tells
about a woman who came into his practice asking how she could get
her pet rabbit to stop its natural instinct of burrowing in the
garden. His very direct advice: "Get yourself a goldfish. They don't
burrow."

Sludge
in Bunnies – My sister’s eight year old Netherland Dwarf, Miss
Sage, recovered from an abscess (causing severe head tilt) and a
respiratory infection in the last few months. However,
recently it was discovered there was too much sludge in Sage’s
urine. Bonnie and her vet decided the course of treatment would be
subcutaneous once or twice a week. Even though Sage eats a diet low
in calcium and drinks water, the additional fluids should help to
dilute the “sludge.” If your rabbit ever requires subcutaneous
fluids, your veterinarian can teach you how to do this. Yes, it
involves needles. (Bonnie is doing a great job!) For a
demonstration and explanation online go to Administering
Subcutaneous Fluids (it’s for cats, but good
photos). For information on sludge in rabbit urine go to:
Bladder Stones In Rabbits,
Aging Bunny, Aging Bladder,
and
Lowering Blood Calcium

Hopperhome
has experienced several intermittent problems with my web hosting
company. (They have been bought out 3 times in the 9 years I have
been with them.) I'm looking for a new company. In the meantime I
appreciate your patience.

June
6, 2007 - 10:00 p.m. - "Luv of Buns" - The Berkshire Humane
Society will host their Second Annual “Luv of Buns” Event on
Saturday, June 9th. in Pittsfield. The event is in conjunction with
3 Bunnies
Rabbit Rescuefor all rabbit lovers.
There will be bunnies from the 3 Bunnies foster program available
for adoption along with rabbits currently available at BHS. Go to
3 Bunnies
Rabbit Rescue for more info.

Speaking of luving buns, the
rabbit shown above is Bling Bling. He is a handsome Dwarf mix about
a year old. Poor Bling Bling was found “roaming in the dump in
Hartford, CT." He had an ear that had been pierced with a hoop in
it. It’s all healed up now. Good Grief, I know rabbits have lots
of ear, but they aren’t for piercing!
Go to 3 Bunnies link above to find out more about this bunny.

Masked Marauders and Foxy Critters -
The newspapers in the UK run many articles about foxes breaking into
outdoor hutches with tragic consequences for pet rabbits. In
my suburb a common culprit would be our local raccoons (and possibly
a fox or coyote) getting into a rabbit hutch. Raccoons are
very good climbers and can easily kill a rabbit. Just because you
live in a suburb, please be aware foxes and raccoons are living in
your neighborhood. The picture above is one of “my raccoons.” My
place backs up to a large green belt of woods even though
civilization is out the front door. When the weather is nice, some
people are tempted to take their house rabbits outside, but it's
safe only when rabbits are supervised. I received an email this week
from a couple who said they went inside to eat lunch, and from their
kitchen window saw an eagle take their rabbit right out of an x-pen.
They were devastated and in shock.

Hop on
the Bus - Below is
a photo of a bus in Japan. Mrs. Yamaguchi who sent me the
photo called it a "usagi" (rabbit) bus. This is "hare"larious and I
want one!

The
National House Rabbit Society has been accepting donations for a
Rescue Emergency Fund to make funds available as small targeted
grants to help rescue organizations with large rescues. This is
great since last year was a year for big bunny rescues all over the
country. Donations have been coming in and already the HRS is
making them available. The grants made so far includeAnimal Friends, Inc.;
Bunny
Bunchof Southern California to help with
a rescue of over 500 domestic rabbits in Garden Grove, CA and Wild Rescue
of Texas to help with a rescue of 45 domestic rabbits in the Fort
Worth Area.

These funds are
helping some very deserving rabbit rescue operations (and the
rabbits, of course!). Go to the link above to donate and learn more
about the program.

San Diego HRS started the first of its kind, “rabbit only” Spay/Neuter Rebate
program in February 2006. People who get their rabbits spayed or
neutered can mail a copy of their receipt to the San Diego HRS for a
refund for a portion of the surgery cost. Click here for

More Info if you live in San Diego County. The
gorgeous girl above is "Tootsie." She is an Angora mix who is a
little over a year old and good with her litter box. And, look
at those helicopters ears. See Tootsie at:San Diego Adoption

Are real bunnies naughty like
Peter Rabbit? If you live in the Bay Area of California you can
find out on Saturday, June 9th at 11:00 a.m. The

House Rabbit Society Headquarters (Richmond, California) has
an event for kids (and grown-ups) called "Storybook Bunnies and Real
Bunnies." Susan Davis, HRS Educator, will answer questions like the
one above and others like: Do wild rabbits really frolic in the
woods like the ones from The Velveteen Rabbit? She will also read
excerpts from classic rabbit-themed children's stories and then lead
a discussion on the differences (and similarities) between fictional
bunnies and real ones. Find out more at the
HRS Events Web Page

Dippy Rabbit - Martha Stewart take note -
Rhoda from Texas found this photo and emailed to me. Rhoda
even tried to duplicate this bread bunny for her party with "some
success." (She didn't send a photo of her attempt.) But she
did make hers more colorful by adding some other veggies.

June
5, 2006, 9:30 p.m. - When you Hop on - An Oregon congressman
wants to take care of your bunnies. (Oh yes, that includes dogs,
cats, hamsters, gerbils, ferrets, birds, fish, horses and
reptiles.) What happens to pets when their owner passes away. The
Oregonian reports Rep. Blemenauer wants pet owners to be able to
set-up a federally deductible trust fund for “fur” kids.
According to the article “The obscure bill has the support of animal
rights advocates.” Also, Blumenauer says, [the legislation] “would
give ‘peace of mind’ to the many Americans who think of their pets
as family.” Thirty-nine states -- including Oregon -- allow people
to set up trusts for their pets. (That’s Gretchen above - she is a
lovely, small grey Rex who was a stray. Her litter box habits are
great. She is very sweet, loves to be held and enjoys sitting in
one's lap. See Rabbit Advocates of Portland, Oregon)

British
Bunnies Will Get New Digs - The RSPCA in Wiltshire, UK
discovered some disturbing findings from a survey concerning rabbits
seen by the RSPCA in the South West region over a six month period:
"69% did not have access to a run and spent 24 hours a day locked
in a hutch; 50% did not have an adequate sized hutch and 32% of
rabbits were living in old hutches, which they were given free from
a friend/neighbor who had previously had rabbits."

In the UK many rabbits are kept in hutches,
but after the survey the RSPCA is going to improve the living
conditions for rabbits throughout the South West region. They are
offering a limited number of brand new and large hutches to existing
rabbits owners who cannot afford them with a minimum donation. Of
course, I recommend bringing bunny inside, but these rabbits will
have much improved lives over cramped quarters. (Borris, a Lionhead
mix, represents the UK above – he’s listed with the Rabbit Rehome.

Hay - it's a Good Deal!
The folks at www.oxbowhay.com have a special deal so
you can add variety to your rabbit’s diet. Taste of Oxbowcombines 15 oz. varieties of
Western Timothy Hay, Orchard Grass Hay, and Oat Hay with your choice
of Alfalfa Hay or Brome Hay. I have purchased all of these hays
separately for my rabbit’s discriminating tastes (except the Alfalfa
Hay since it's too fattening for my geriatric bunnies). See the
link above for a terrific price on four 15 oz. bags– it lasts until
June 30th.

Hoppy
Toy Bunny – Keep this in mind for next Spring or even Christmas
– a toy bunny that hops. The jumping rabbit is available at Cloud
Nine Toys online and you can see the Hopping Toy Bunny hopping at their
website. A machine will never be able to duplicate a real "binky,"
but the hops are cute.

June
4, 2007, 9:30 p.m.
Rabbitt in Paradise
Here’s an artistic website with a lot rabbittude. Be sure to check
out their book section in their store at
Rabbitt in Paradise Books.
They have books on Blackberry Rabbitt’s move from California to
Hawaii to become the “Rabbitt in Paradise." Find out what happens
when a new ottoman appears in the living room. Rabbit lovers can
appreciate this. Get your fill of rabbit aloha at this website.

By the way, Hawaii has recently become the 43rd state to make
cruelty to animals a felony offense now that their governor has
signed a bill to protect pets into law. Pets are defined as dogs,
cats, domesticated rabbits, guinea pigs, domesticated pigs
and caged birds that are not bred for consumption. The new Class C
felony of cruelty to animals in the first degree is punishable by a
fine of up to $10,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

No
More Rabbit Rescues? I love the list at
CottonTails Rescue in UKabout
“How to Put Your Local Rabbit Rescue Out of Business.”

It says:

1. Do not buy a rabbit on impulse.

2.
Do not breed your rabbit.

3.
Make sure that the sex of the rabbit is what you think it is,
especially if you intend to keep two together. Seek confirmation
from your vet.

4.
Never buy a rabbit as a gift for someone

I
would add: 1) Neuter and spay your rabbits and 2) buy the pet for
yourself and not your children, but they can play with the bunny
with rules.

Lavender
Luvies started with a lavender stuffed bunny. In Seattle a
resourceful woman hand-stitched a lavender bunny, which she said
calmed her daughter. "Bears are so typical. So, I made a bunny. ...
That was kind of fun, and I thought I could sell these," Jordan
said. "I thought it would be cool to make a living." After making
that first bunny in 2002, she would stitch other rabbits together
while her young son, Liam, napped. After stockpiling a cadre of
lavender bunnies, Jordan began selling them the following year at
Pike Place Market in Seattle. She now has a shop on Queen Anne Hill
called Lavender Luvies. See her website for not so real, but
calming rabbits at:
lavenderluvies.com

Seeing
Double Again - As an identical twin myself I find cloning pretty
silly, but it was bound to happen. A Hungarian research team cloned
the first Central European rabbit near Budapest last Friday. That
makes them one of five teams world wide to successfully clone a
rabbit. The rabbit, named Tapsilla (in English that would be
Thumpella) also had a twin that did not survive. But Tapsilla is
doing well. And, what is the point of all the bunny cloning? I
love my unique rabbits.

Disclaimer: Photos are published here from many sources,
primarily Bunny Blog visitors who send them via email.
Other photos are added only to illustrate a blog entry about a
subject. Credit is given when identifying information is
sent to:
mail@hopperhome.com If there is a usage objection to any
photo or logo pictured on this web page, it will be removed
immediately.